Search - In Which We Serve on DVD

Content Advisory: Mild Violence Movie Release: 1942 DVD Release: 12/02/2003 Format: DVD - Black and White Edition: Restored/Remastered,Special Collection Audio Tracks: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 54 mins Studio: Diamond Entertainment Corp. Members Wishing: 5 Genres: War, War Drama See Also: In Which We Serve, In Which We Serve

Few morale-boosting wartime films have retained their power and entertainment value as emphatically as Noël Coward's In Which We Serve. To witness Coward's sober, no-nonsense direction (in collaboration with his co-director/editor, David Lean) and to watch his straightforward portrayal of navy captain Kinross, one would never suspect that he'd built his theatrical reputation upon sophisticated drawing-room comedies and brittle, witty song lyrics. The real star of In Which We Serve is the British destroyer Torrin. Torpedoed in battle, the Torrin miraculously survives, and is brought back to English shores to be repaired. The paint is barely dry and the nuts and bolts barely in place before the Torrin is pressed into duty during the Dunkirk evacuation. The noble vessel is finally sunk after being dive-bombed in Crete, but many of the crew members survive. As they cling to the wreckage awaiting rescue, Coward and his men flash back to their homes and loved ones, and, in so doing, recall anew just why they're fighting and for whom they're fighting. Next to Coward, the single most important of the film's characters is Shorty Blake, played by John Mills. (Trivia note: Mills' infant daughter Juliet Mills appears as Shorty's baby.) Even so, the emphasis in the film is on teamwork; here as elsewhere, there can be no stars in wartime. For many years, the only prints available to television were from the bowdlerized American version, which crudely cut out all "hells" and "damns." Fortunately, this eviscerated American release has since been shelved in favor of the full, glorious 115-minute version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Noël Coward - Captain Kinross
John Mills - Ordinary Seaman Shorty Blake
Bernard Miles - Chief Petty Officer Walter Hardy
Celia Johnson - Alix Kinross
Joyce Carey - Mrs. Hardy

David Lean and Noël Coward's In Which We Serve (1942) makes its first appearance on DVD in America courtesy of Diamond Entertainment, which has treated it as a public domain title. It's also added a brace of extras, including a history of the picture, bios on Coward and John Mills, and an array of facts and trivia about the movie, all accessible through a simple two-layer menu. It's difficult to say for certain, but the film itself appears to have been mastered from a laserdisc source, to judge from the combination of clarity and anomalies that show up in the image. The result is a picture that, though somewhat softer than it would be if mastered from a proper source, is also very consistent and balanced, and offers a better quality than is typical for these unauthorized DVD releases. The audio has also been mastered at a good, healthy volume, with above-average clarity. The 114-minute movie has been given eight chapters, a bare minimum for a film of this complexity. On the other hand, the fact that it's a budget-priced release overcomes that one lack of attention, at least until an authorized version with some serious extras shows up, if ever. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide