Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Excellent but underrated film

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Noir and the sea would seem like an ideal combination. Unfortunately, the "terror" promised by Warner Brothers Pictures does not materialize often enough in The Sea Chase (1955) (a 10/10 Warner Brothers DVD) to offset a slack script, routine direction and couldn't-care-less acting from just about the whole cast except ever-reliable Lyle Bettger. Stars John Wayne and Lana Turner would seem a lively combination. Alas, both are obviously miscast, and neither make the slightest effort to make their characters convincing. Worse still, exciting moments are few and far between. More to the point, the story does not come across well at all, despite the fact that director John Farrow himself was a seaman who served in World War 2. In fact, he I were all set to write his biography - we exchanged letters and agreed on what to include and what to exclude - when he died from a heart attack at his Hollywood home, early one night, while his wife, Maureen O'Sullivan, was out. She found him slumped by the phone when she returned home.

" . . . A liar, and a coward!" Warner Bros. calls out "Karl," as its thinly-disguised stand-in for America's self-appointed Real Life Snitch-in-Chief, John Wayne, cleverly cast as--who else?--"Il Duce" himself, John Wayne. No one ever accused Mr. Wayne as being the sharpest thorn in the Forehead, so Warner Bros. was able to fool him into playing himself by casting Lana Turner to represent his Real Life Henchwoman\Crime Partner, Hedda Hopper. Lana's "Elsa" and Wayne's "Karl" are made for each other here, as were John and Hedda in Real Life (please see TRUMBO). Early on in THE SEA CHASE, Karl rattles off a list of his four ship captain "friends" whom Nazi Master Spy Elsa has destroyed and driven to suicide. Any normal man would not be able to kiss the lips of the wench who offed so many buddies, especially AFTER telling her that hanging's too good for her. (This would be like seeing Samuel L. Jackson necking with Jennifer Jason Leigh in THE HATEFUL EIGHT.) But for closet sadist Wayne, this wasn't even acting--it was Second Nature. Along with REAP THE WILD WIND (on the set of which Wayne and Hopper hatched their Plot against the U.S. Constitution), THE SEA CHASE bookends a Full Confession by Wayne to his Fascist Crimes Against Humanity. It's no wonder that Il Duce hated screenwriters, after his drinking buddies saw these films and told him how he'd gotten hoodwinked into showing his True Colors.

One of these true pieces of studio Hollywood hokum, although there are some good location shots. Just saw the entire film for the first time on TCM. On HD with wide screen it's not bad, great color. Virtually none of the crew try to even mimic any sort of German accent. On the crew a couple of familiar faces from the 60's, Claude Akins, Jim Arness (Gunsmoke)and Alan Hale (Skipper, Gilligan's Island) plus Tab Hunter. Not the Duke's best performance, not his worst. Lana Turner looks hot and somehow, on this tramp steamer in the middle of the S. Pacific her her is and she always has makeup on. No real chemistry between the 2 of them in this though.

What was with John Wayne in the 1950s?! Perhaps it was because he often produced his own films or had great star power, but whatever the reason, he chose some of the weirdest parts to play. Think about it...during this era he played Genghis Khan, a diplomat to Japan, an Air Force pilot (this isn't so weird, but his counterpart was Janet Leigh as a Russian pilot!!) and here he plays a German ship's captain during WWII!! At least here he is a German who dislikes the Nazis....but still...Wayne fighting for Germany during the war?! That's so surreal! The film begins just days before WWII begins. Wayne is having a conversation with an old friend who is a captain in the British Navy. This officer is trying to convince Wayne to leave his boat and come with him, as he knows that Wayne hates Hitler and the Nazis. However, Wayne's sense of duty and loyalty to his country prevent him from doing anything other than command his ship.When the war begins, Wayne is concerned to first evade his friend's warship as well as avoid being captured once they are underway. So, it's a never-ending battle to take this merchant vessel to small ports where they can get food and fuel--and somehow possibly make it back to port at Valparaiso and eventually back to Germany.What Wayne doesn't know is that his over-zealous Nazi of a first officer murders two innocent fishermen when they stop to get provisions. Later, when the British Navy discovers this atrocity, Wayne's old friend is determined to destroy the merchant ship and make Wayne pay.During all this time, there inexplicably is a woman aboard. Apparently, she (Lana Turner) is a spy who needs to get away as soon as possible or she'll be captured. Once on board, she generally is a nuisance as she seems petulant and nasty for no particular reason. Later, naturally, sparks fly between Turner and Wayne--though the reason for this seemed a bit forced and illogical.Let's talk more about Wayne and Turner. Although casting Wayne was odd, he handled the job well provided you were able to believe he was German. He did a good job and his character was particularly written well. As for Turner, she seemed like a giant walking cliché. She was moody and curt but over time she became enamored with Wayne. This turnaround was really too much, as she seemed all emotions and fickleness--a truly shallow and silly character (Turner, by the way, was good at these sort of roles). Late in the film, off the coast of Norway, the dialog (particularly hers) is really, really bad--very sticky and dumb.Overall, a pretty interesting tale that didn't really need Lana Turner's character. She was a diversion in an otherwise engaging tale.