Sailor of the King [Blu-ray]

A hidden gem among the Fox war classics!
I caught this movie on American Movie Classics a few years ago and

hoped that one day it would be made available on DVD. Jeffrey

Hunter, a very underrated actor in one of his first starring roles,

is a Canadian sailor in England's Royal Navy. It is World War Two, and

his ship is hunting for a much-feared German battlecruiser. When his ship engages the cruiser in battle, the cruiser is damaged and his ship is sunk. He is taken prisoner aboard the German ship, and when the ship pulls into a remote island harbor for repairs, he escapes to the

island armed with a rifle and plenty of ammunition. He devises a plan

to shoot at the repair crews as they try to fix the ship, to delay

their departure. Doing that will give other Royal Navy ships time

to zero in on the cruiser's location and sink them.

A very good movie with a very satisfying ending...look for a pre-James

Bond Bernard Lee...

A long-lost Fox treasure -- great DVD print, too
Maybe not the greatest war flick ever made, but a worthy example of some highly competent work by Director Ray Boulting, one of the principles involved in the evolution of British Lion Films Corp. Though Boulting's later films were often little more than generic comedies (including some work with Peter Sellers), this film is a good example of his earlier, more "morally earnest" work. The hero, who undertakes a lone mission from which he knows he will not return, is contrasted with both a flaky English officer and a fatalistic German commander. Some years ago I read somewhere that this story of a single hero seaman was based on an actual incident from World War II. In any case, the combat sequences are superbly produced - no wonder, since Boulting himself saw similar combat during the period this story covers. The sniping sequence is beautifully executed and edited -- you really do feel as if you're up there in the rocks when the artillery barrage surrounds you. The DVD is among the...

Outstanding Neglected Gem!
Bravo to Fox for releasing some of the less famous but still superior classics. This is a one of a kind. It clearly establishes Jeffrey Hunter as the most talented of the 1950's handsome hunks.

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