Richard Attenborough (10 Rillington Place), George Baker (The Dam Busters), and Bill Owen (The Rainbow Jacket) head an all-star cast in The Ship That Died of Shame, a dark and powerful British drama directed by one of Ealing Studios’ leading lights, Basil Dearden (Saraband for Dead Lovers).
At the end of WWII, three crew members of His Majesty’s gun boat 1087 – Bill (Baker), George (Attenborough), and Birdie (Owen) – are brought together again through circumstance and start a business, refitting their trusty wartime ship to make regular Channel crossings. Before long, however, Bill learns that the ruthless George has been getting them involved in more and more depraved activities and is repulsed. But it’s the 1087 who refuses to accept her part in the gang’s amoral ventures...
Based on a short story by Nicholas Monsarrat (The Cruel Sea), and featuring appearances by such greats as Virginia McKenna (A Town Like Alice) and Bernard Lee (Out of the Clouds), this unsentimental tale of courage, conflict, camaraderie, and conscience combines scenes of hard-hitting drama with elements of the fantastical to extraordinary, devastating effect.
