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voor de liefhebbers van zeldzame duikbootfilms :)

The Silver Fleet (1943)

Stirring WWII tale of submarines, subterfuge and Dutch courage produced by Powell and Pressburger and starring Ralph Richardson, Googie Withers and Esmond Knight
Set in a small coastal town in newly occupied Holland, this gripping celebration of Dutch resistance was produced by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger as a follow up to their classic propaganda drama One of Our Aircraft is Missing (1942).

Ralph Richardson stars as Jaap Van Leyden, the owner and chief engineer of a shipyard that builds submarines for the Dutch Navy. When the Nazis capture the town, Jaap does the unthinkable - he turns quisling, agreeing to convert two subs into U-boats for Gestapo thug Von Schiffer (Knight). News travels fast in this patriotic town and it"s not long before the first brick crashes through Jaap"s living room window. Old friends turn their backs on his loyal wife Helene (Withers) and son Willem (Akkerman) gets a right kicking at school.

What nobody knows, including Helene, is that Jaap"s only playing the collaboration game to buy Von Schiffer"s trust. In fact, he"s secretly organising his employees" resistance through written notes, left in the workers" pockets and lunch boxes, that give the men instructions on how to sabotage the submarine conversions. Jaap signs the inspirational missives "Piet Hein" - a naval hero who, as every Dutch schoolboy knows, captured Spain"s Silver Fleet off the coast of Cuba in 1628. But can Jaap retain his anonymity long enough to orchestrate his daring plan to its explosive conclusion? Will Helene"s blind trust in her husband survive the mounting hostility from a vindictive neighbourhood? And just how great a sacrifice will it take to ensure that the subs don"t get into German hands?

Rating: 7.0
Runtime: 88 mins
Language: English
Country: UK
Color: Black and White

Director: Vernon Sewell / Gordon Wellesley
Cast:
Ralph Richardson ... Jaap van Leyden
Googie Withers ... Helène van Leyden
Esmond Knight ... Von Schiffer
Beresford Egan ... Krampf
Frederick Burtwell ... Captain Müller
Kathleen Byron ... Schoolmistress
Willem Akkerman ... Willem van Leyden
Dorothy Gordon ... Janni Peters
Charles Victor ... Bastiaan Peters
John Longden ... Jost Meertens
Joss Ambler ... Cornelis Smit
Margaret Emden ... Bertha
George Schelderup ... Dirk
Neville Mapp ... Joop
Ivor Barnard ... Admiral

Thanks to Bearing :)