The Ship That Died of Shame

A valuable record of bewildered British masculinity in the post-war years. Some old mates discover their trusty former gunboat decommissioned and languishing in the knacker's yard. They vow to make her seaworthy again, but betray the faithful sloop by using her for smuggling. Take away the absurd nautical anthropomorphism and the tortuous stuff about how hard it is for WWII veterans to adapt to civvy street, and you're left with a pretty threadbare thriller (from a Nicholas Monsarrat novel). The story is told in such a brisk, understated fashion that it's easy to overlook quite how odd it is. Memorable finale seemingly filmed in the producer's bath.