SAILOR OF THE KING
(20th Century-Fox) HERE were three good reasons (I thought) for going to see this picture. It was directed by Roy Boulting, the story was by C. S. Forester (who should ‘by now be well enough known as the creator of Hornblower and the author of The African Queen), and the studio had the cooperation of the Mediterranean Fleet. The last might not seem a good reason to you, but warships have fascinated me from my youth up, and even the untenanted sea excites my imagination. And I had also seen the ‘original screen version of the story (with Betty Balfour and John Mills), and was curious to compare the new with what I remembered of the old. But if you, too, are interested in ships and the sea, I must warn you that Sailor of the "King takes a long time to reach salt water. The hero, Able-seaman Brown (Jeffrey Hunter), was apparently born on the wrong side of the blanket, and brought up on the wrong side of the hawespipe, and so much time is wasted telling us about his begetting (in the most genteel terms, of course) that the really exciting story -the sea-fights, and Brown's single-handed action against the Nazi raider Essen while she effects repairs in the Gala-pagos-has had to be cropped to the bare bones. The cruisers Glasgow and Cleopatra, and the fast minelayer Manxman (40. knots plus) provide some exciting sequences, but the studio work scarcely measures up to R.N. standards — or, for that matter, to Mr. forester’s.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19540122.2.21.1.3
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 30, Issue 757, 22 January 1954, Page 10
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258SAILOR OF THE KING New Zealand Listener, Volume 30, Issue 757, 22 January 1954, Page 10
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
Copyright in the Denis Glover serial Hot Water Sailor published in 1959 is owned by Pia Glover. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this serial and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the Listener. You can search, browse, and print this serial for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Pia Glover for any other use.
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