Memorable, crazy movie

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Makes me wonder why this mini classic is not better known. This marvelous tale of the Sea, not only offers very good performances by Claude Rains, Dana Andrews, and Philip Dorn, but is based on an intriguing novel "The Gaunt Woman" by Edmund Gilligan. The Screenplay receives fine treatment, with plenty of suspense by Dale Van Every (A.K.F. that other great Sea Classic: "Captains Courageous") It's the eerie look of the film thats the real star. Great, moody B/W Cinematography by George E. Diskant who gave us those fine Noir images in several other RKO features: "The Narrow Margin" - "Riffraff" - "They Live By Night" and "On Dangerous Ground". Some neat special effects also help lift the tension as it moves along.Combined with the evocative Direction of Award Winner: Alfred Werker ("He Walked by Night" - "Lost Boundaries") 'Sealed Cargo' is packed with viewing enjoyment, filled with mystic shots (in dense fog at sea) during the dangerous days of WW11. This tale will keep any not overly demanding viewer very happily occupied for its nicely paced 90mins. Pretty Carla Balenda ("Hunt the Man Down" and much on TV) supplies the female interests and carries it off with likable style. While it's set in wartime, you would not call this a 'war' film.RKO sure knew how to entertain audiences with a wide range of assorted themes throughout the 30's - 50's. Both Werker and Diskant went on to give some of the better shows of B/W Television their look and feel, creating a stylized look on small budgets. Seems 'Cargo' is rarely shown, so well worth looking for. Some TV Prints are not so good, being from old CC Movietime copies, so look for a true RKO print if you can.

Sealed Cargo would have been a typical war film had RKO done it in 1943 when people were willing to buy these kind of plots. By 1951 this had become clearly outdated. Howard Hughes must have been going through some old scripts and/or story ideas and came up with this one and said it would be a great film still.Dana Andrews stars in this film as Gloucester fishing boat captain whom we meet still griping because his is deemed a necessary occupation and he can't get in the fight. Still he takes his boat out for a run in the Grand Banks of Newfoundland with a special passenger in Carla Ballenda who wants to go there to meet her dad Onslow Stevens who is in the Canadian Air Force until recently invalided out. On the way Andrews spots a deserted ghost schooner ship with only her captain still on board, Claude Rains somewhat disheveled. He gives the ship a tow into the small fishing village he was to drop Ballenda off in. But the trading schooner is a disguise for the ship being the mother ship of a Nazi U-boat wolfpack. She's carrying in a secret compartment a load of torpedoes for the U-boats to reload and do their dirtiest fighting with. This film was so dated by 1951 the audience then must have been stunned. The players to their credit go at it with a straight face, especially Claude Rains who is a sinister figure among the ridiculous. Dana Andrews is a proper tightlipped hero.Sealed Cargo is a World War II propaganda exercise that someone forgot to make back then and then remembered in 1951.

While out on a fishing trip off Nova Scotia, a fishing crew (and some guests) come across a damaged Danish schooner which has apparently been damaged by an attack from a German U-Boat. The captain, Pat Bannon boards to find only the captain of the schooner (Capt Skalder) alive on board. However Bannon suspects something is wrong.I love Dana Andrews and will often watch films simply because he is in them, however I got stung here because this film isn't very good. The plot is a little muddled and lacking logic, preferring a bit of `beat the Germans' flag waving instead. The sense of mystery isn't sustained towards the end of the film and is replaced by a bit of action. The action works reasonably well with Bannon in cat and mouse games with U-Boats, but it isn't great.Andrews does OK work here, just really playing a straight, strong-jawed leading man. Balenda is an unnecessary leading lady who has little to really do. Rains is alright, adding another strong actor to the film didn't hurt even if he wasn't really well served at any point. The support cast didn't really grab me and none of them stood out either as characters of actors.Overall this was passable for a cold, wet Saturday afternoon but no more than that. The story isn't really gripping and it doesn't have a flow to it. That said there is enough in the way of semi-mystery and thrills to make it watchable.

This is a low budget espionage action-thriller about a fisher boat that gets involved with the smuggling of bombs by the Nazis. The movie feels as if it comes straight from the RKL assembly line, but has indeed a bit of of flair due to the tension and action that kept me glued to my seat. The story is a bit one-sided since there's not much more than the action and espionage intrigue. Little time has been made free for romance for example. So, a B-movie that is not too corny and with a bit of flair. * 1/2 out of ****.