Night Boat to Dublin

NIGHT BOAT TO DUBLIN is a fun spy thriller that must have been shot in the dying days of World War 2. Espionage and its deadly results are the name of the game here, as the British authorities pursue a Nazi organisation running out of Ireland and in particular aim to rescue a kidnapped Swedish scientist who may have the secret to unlocking the atomic bomb. Half of the action is centred around the titular ship, with plenty of cloak and dagger shenanigans to pass the time.

And this film certainly passes the time well enough, coming across as fast paced and with just the right level of suspense to see it through. There's an early plot twist to rival PSYCHO and a delightfully urbane villain in the form of the charming Raymond Lovell, who has a real ball with the part. The sneaking around in hotel room material is good fun, too, and Robert Newton is a British hero in the finest stiff-upper-lip tradition. A triumvirate of Herbert Lom, Marius Goring, and Leslie Dwyer flesh out villainous parts, and the action-packed climax is delightful.

Decent spy thriller in which a reserved Robert Newton plays a military intelligence officer leading the hunt for a scientist who doesn't actually realise he has been abducted by Nazi spies. Newton leads a likeable cast which includes Guy Middleton, Herbert Lom, Muriel Pavlow, Leslie Dwyer, and the overlooked Raymond Lovell, who actually makes quite a personable villain.

"Night Boat to Dublin" should have been a lot better. The storyline is an interesting one on the written page and Robert Newton is an underrated leading man. The plot is thin when it comes to sustaining any kind of narrative and the pace tends to drag its own feet. Some scenes feel as though they have been merely cobbled together. Even so, there is plenty to like. Robert Newton does well as the Government operative who goes undercover as hired help for the villains of the film. The classical theatre actor, Marius Goring, is completely wasted in his one scene appearance. His screen time amounts to about three minutes, if that. There is some good photography and this creates some tension, especially when Robert Newton and his colleagues are searching for incriminating evidence. You won't find a lot of action but the ending is still good.

This film, issued in 1946, may have had some last minute plot changes made to it, as I suspect it was written and planned before the War actually ended. There is still a ring of Nazi agents at work in this film, but the War is now over and the Nazis have become an international organisation trying to steal the secrets of the atomic bomb and sell them to other hostile powers or organisations. (This is not unlike the scare stories still prominent in today's newspapers on a weekly basis, though the villains who threaten to destroy us all are constantly changing, it seems.) 'The Irish Free State' is still a bogey in the film, where the Nazis feel very much at home, which shows how embittered the British were at the so-called 'neutrality' of Ireland during the War. Hence the many trips on the night boat to Ireland which occur in this story. Unlike real ferry journeys across the Irish Sea, which can be horribly rough crossings, all of these take place on a flat sea without any waves. Funny that! Robert Newton in a slouch hat is the lead player, and the look of whimsy on his face is not always appropriate for moments of high tension. Wilfred Hyde Whyte has a few seconds on screen as an eccentric taxi driver. Herbert Lom has a few scenes as one of the Nazis, as does Marius Goring. The issue of this film on DVD is a pleasure to watch, because it has been taken from a perfectly preserved negative, rather than some battered old print, and the images are as crisp as the day they were made. Many of the period aspects of this film are amusing and interesting to watch, especially those featuring trains and railyards. The manners of the time never cease to be fascinating, and even the Nazis are polite as they stick a gun in your side and say they deeply regret that they will have to kill you. Brenda Bruce has a scene as a shrieking harridan who wants to go out and have a good time and nobody is going to stop her, especially not her older husband, Leslie Dwyer, a steward who has been paid for doing some favours for the Nazis on board the Irish ferry because she taunted him for never having any money. Lawrence Huntington directed this film, and it is good for a rainy afternoon.

The flimsy plot of this wartime intelligence story relies on endless coincidences, hunches and lucky breaks. The determinedly amateur British intelligence operation is seriously lacking in direction and professional discipline, but who cares when the script writer is on your side? Such dull viewing could give spies a bad reputation.