SEALED CARGO

US, 1951, 90 minutes, Black and white.
Dana Andrews, Carla Balenda, Claude Rains, Philip Dorn, Onslow Stevens, Skip Homeier, J.M. Kerrigan, Arthur Shields.
Directed by Alfred L. Werker.

Sealed Cargo is a modest war story. It is set off the Nova Scotia coast where a fishing boat, captained by Dana Andrews, comes across a damaged schooner. The captain is still alive and claims that the schooner was attacked by a German U-boat. In listening to the captain, the fisherman decides that there are suspicions – and later returns to the boat, confronting the captain, finding its true mission. This leads a confrontational ending.

Dana Andrews was a solid screen hero at this stage. Claude Rains had spent many years in England and in Hollywood as a villain.

The film was directed by Alfred L. Werker who tended to direct rather low-budget films including The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, the first Basil Rathbone-Nigel? Bruce episode, Shock, He Walked By Night, Lost Boundaries and the anticommunist film, Walk East on Beacon.

1.The popularity of this kind of film in the early 1950s? Memories of the war? Heroism?

2.The east coast of North America, Nova Scotia? The sea, the fishing boats, the schooner? Authentic atmosphere? Black and white photography? Musical score?

3.The title, the schooner, the cargo of rum? The rum as a cover? The true cargo?

4.The focus on Pat Bannon? The fisherman on the east coast of America? During the war years? His skills, personality? Margaret Mc Lean? Commander Mc Lean? Finding the schooner? The search, finding the captain? The interrogation? Bringing the schooner to shore? His suspicions, the return? The dangers? His crew? The final confrontation – and overcoming the enemy?

5.The captain, on the boat, his story? The U-boat? His cargo? Relationship with Bannen? Coming into the port? Interrogations – and his being unmasked? His contacts?

6.The fishermen, their characters, interactions? On the boat? The schooner?

7.The film as a memoir of this kind of action during World War Two? Modest – but playing a key role in its small world?