This wartime propaganda film is a thinly disguised take on the maritime exploits of Lord Mountbatten. Co-directed by the debuting David Lean and Noël Coward, it has matured to become a paean to a lost world. Told in flashback, as a group of stranded sailors await rescue after the sinking of their ship, the film is immensely moving, and contains definitive performances from Coward himself (his speech about his ship, the HMS Torrin, is a classic) and Celia Johnson, all chintz, beauty and stoicism in her film debut. Watch out, too, for screen bows from Richard Attenborough, Daniel Massey and an 11-week-old Juliet Mills. A box-office hit in its day, the film was awarded a special Oscar, to Coward for his "outstanding production achievement".

The story of the HMS Torrin, from its construction to its sinking in the Mediterranean during action in World War II. The ship’s first and only commanding officer is Captain E.V. Kinross, who trains his men not only to be loyal to him and the country, but—most importantly—to themselves.