Brown on Resolution (1935)
1h 10m | PG-13
Forever England gives John Mills his first leading role as Brown. Born after a brief affair between his mother and a naval officer, he joins the Royal Navy during the First World War. There his bravery and marksmanship keeps a German ship in port so a British ship can sink it. He becomes a hero, but at what cost?
Director: Walter Forde
Studio: Gaumont-British Picture Corporation
Genre: Action, War
Video: 720p
Cast
Betty Balfour
as Elizabeth Brown
John Mills
as Albert Brown
Barry MacKay
as Lt. Somerville
Jimmy Hanley
as Ginger
Howard Marion-Crawford
as Max
H.G. Stoker
as Capt. Holt
Reviews
C.S. Forester was wonderful at writing evocative seafaring yarns and this is one of his better stories. The film starts with couple of strangers who meet on a train and end up missing their connection and spending a few days together. Advance a few years and a powerful Nazi raider sinks a British warship and picks up the survivors. For one of them - "Albert Brown" (John Mills) the war isn't over and when the ship puts into a remote location to effect repairs, he steals a rifle and heads ashore from where he promptly takes pot shots at the repair crew. His plan is to delay the mending long enough for a pursuing Royal Navy flotilla to catch up and destroy the enemy ship. Walter Forde has assembled a strong cast of British actors - with a young Jimmy Hanley and Howard Marion-Crawford amongst them to keep the adventure moving along well, after a fairly slow start, that builds to an exciting denouement - and a question: could "Brown" be the result of that assignation many years earlier...?