The Ship That Died of Shame ( PT Raiders )

The Ship That Died of Shame (DVD) (*)

Out of Stock

Original Title: PT Raiders
Language Selections:
English ( Mono )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
88 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Black & White

Movie filmed in 1955 and produced in:
United Kingdom ( Great Britain, Ireland )

Directed By:
Basil Dearden

Written By:
Basil Dearden
Nicholas Monsarrat

Actors:
Richard Attenborough ..... George Hoskins
George Baker ..... Bill Randall (skipper of 1087 / narrator
Bill Owen ..... Birdie (coxswain of 1087)
Virginia McKenna ..... Helen Randall
Roland Culver ..... Maj. Fordyce
Bernard Lee ..... Customs Officer Brewster
Ralph Truman ..... Sir Richard
John Chandos ..... Raines (fugitive killer)
Harold Goodwin ..... Customs officer #2
John Longden ..... Detective
Alfie Bass ..... Sailor on 1087 (uncredited)
John Boxer ..... Customs Man (uncredited)
Stratford Johns ..... Garage Worker (uncredited)
David Langton ..... Man in Coastal Forces Club Bar (uncredited)

Synopsis:

Based on a short story by Nicholas Monsarrat (author of 'The Cruel Sea') and directed by Basil Dearden (The Blue Lamp, The League Of Gentleman) The Ship That Died Of Shame takes place during the bleak aftermath of the Second World War a crew of navy veterans, played by screen legend Richard Attenborough, George Baker (The Dam Busters) and Bill Owen (Last Of The Summer Wine), are forced into smuggling black market goods across the English Channel to make ends meet. But it isn't long before wine and cigarettes are replaced by the more lucrative cargo of automatic weapons and counterfeit money. A crisis of conscience lies upon the horizon when one of the crew refuses to turn a blind eye after discovering that the mysterious stranger they've been asked to smuggle into England hides a dark and harrowing secret.

Three navy veterans drift into smuggling in the bleak economic climate of post-World War II Britain. Initially they carry only innocuous contraband items like wine, which are in short supply on the English black market, but through the greed and arrogance of George Hoskins, one of trio, they get involved with the corrupt Major Fordyce, who brings them higher-risk cargoes like counterfeit currency and automatic weapons. At first, Bill Randall, skipper of the 1087, compromises his conscience by turning a blind eye to the morality their actions, but has a crisis of conscience when he discovers that the nervous, suspicious-looking man they smuggled across the channel is a child murderer and apparent pedophile. He and Birdie, the ship's mechanic, decide that they've had enough.

Richard Attenborough stars as a former crew member of a British gunboat, which was distinguished by a heroic wartime record. Attenborough and several fellow ex-crewmen buy the vessel in peacetime. They clean, paint and renovate the ship, then proceed to launch a smuggling operation. The film gradually veers towards fantasy as the ship itself assumes a "conscience" and starts to rebel against the crew's criminal activity. The Ship That Died of Shame tempers its moralizing with some first-rate comedy vignettes during the renovation sequences. The film was shorn of nearly 15 minutes and retitled PT Raiders for its first American run, but both original title and full running time were restored for television.

This product was added to our catalog on Saturday 12 February, 2011.

Customers who bought this product also purchased

Landfall (DVD)	The Winter War (DVD)	The Colditz Story (DVD)
Many Wars Ago (DVD)	In Tranzit (Blu-Ray)	Adrift (2009) (DVD)