Surprisingly exciting drama of World War I featuring some of the best performances of legendary stars Gary Cooper and Joan Crawford with even better performances by the somewhat less legendary but equally talented Robert Young and Franchot Tone. The daring-do may seem a bit improbable, (did they really use speed boats to deliver torpedoes in WWI?), but it's certainly exciting and well-done considering the technology at the time.
The only problem is: can't these people talk in complete sentences? As Robert Osborne just said on TCM, they seem to be reading telegrams to each other. He suggests it was William Faulkner's attempt to disguise the fact that he had a cast of very American actors playing very British characters. The result is less British than it is incoherent but the fine cast struggles through,giving the most animated and nuanced performances of their distinguished careers.
The only problem is: can't these people talk in complete sentences? As Robert Osborne just said on TCM, they seem to be reading telegrams to each other. He suggests it was William Faulkner's attempt to disguise the fact that he had a cast of very American actors playing very British characters. The result is less British than it is incoherent but the fine cast struggles through,giving the most animated and nuanced performances of their distinguished careers.