...which is about as paradoxical as its plot. I love black and white wartime propaganda films with women in shoulderpads, so there's that in its favour. The war looms large, and the "lifeboat" cast take in much of the British Isles - and France. Meanwhile the Americans were making moves about that squad that contains O'Malley, MacTavish, Kowalski and Goldstein.
Yes, it's not just England fighting this war - the Welsh may be bombed and fired on too, even deep in the country. Also present is an Irishman working for his government, who is about to be posted to Berlin.
The opening is very effective, with the characters arriving in twos and threes, walking along a lonely, sunny country road carrying suitcases. They already seem in another world.
Sally Ann may talk posh, but she is very effective as the daughter of the estranged couple. How does she sob so convincingly? She's great in Dead of Night, too. Tom Walls and Francoise Rosay are affecting as the couple who have lost a son and fall out over spiritualism.
I like the two spivs and hope Major Fortescue will rejoin the army as a private and do his bit. Not sure about salvation for the main spiv, who has a certain charm. The scene where his character is established - doing dodgy deals in a hotel bar - is very funny.
But I find the saintliness of the revenants annoying, and their accents irritating. Silly, I know, as they were genuinely Welsh. Is there something patronising about the way they are presented as quaint? And why is Glynis/Gwyneth wearing an ill-fitting New Look dress in the middle of the war?
Yes, it's not just England fighting this war - the Welsh may be bombed and fired on too, even deep in the country. Also present is an Irishman working for his government, who is about to be posted to Berlin.
The opening is very effective, with the characters arriving in twos and threes, walking along a lonely, sunny country road carrying suitcases. They already seem in another world.
Sally Ann may talk posh, but she is very effective as the daughter of the estranged couple. How does she sob so convincingly? She's great in Dead of Night, too. Tom Walls and Francoise Rosay are affecting as the couple who have lost a son and fall out over spiritualism.
I like the two spivs and hope Major Fortescue will rejoin the army as a private and do his bit. Not sure about salvation for the main spiv, who has a certain charm. The scene where his character is established - doing dodgy deals in a hotel bar - is very funny.
But I find the saintliness of the revenants annoying, and their accents irritating. Silly, I know, as they were genuinely Welsh. Is there something patronising about the way they are presented as quaint? And why is Glynis/Gwyneth wearing an ill-fitting New Look dress in the middle of the war?