Reviews of The Sea Chase (1955)

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In this sea drama John Wayne plays the same type of rugged individualist that he always did but there is a surprise. He plays a loyal German sea captain during the opening days of World War II and does so in a distinctly sympathetic fashion. This may at first seem counterintuitive for John Wayne fans but the key is that he is not a Nazi. In fact, he is an outspoken critic of the Nazi party. That is how he finds himself cashiered from the German navy and in command of a tramp steamer.

The captain finds himself in Australia at the outbreak of the war. He breaks out in an attempt to bring his ship safely back to Germany. Though he loathes the regime, he is a loyal German. Getting to Germany is only the least of his problems. He is saddled by his consulate with the transport of a German spy in the form of Femme Fatale, Lana Turner. To make matters worse, his second officer is an ardent Nazi who thinks nothing of committing the occasional atrocity against shipwrecked seamen. The icing on the cake is the Royal Navy warship that pursues him across the South Pacific with an old family friend aboard her as one of the officers.

Throughout the entire ordeal, Wayne portrays the captain as a man dedicated to his own ideals and his own conception of valor. This makes dealing with Nazis, spies, mutinous crewmen and friend in the opposing navy just that much more difficult.

Wayne is often criticized for playing the same one dimensional character over and over again. I see him as playing parts he believes in over and over again. He generally does a good job of it and this film is no exception. Principles have a price and Wayne pays the price, doing so with gallantry.

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For some reason I never thought of Wayne as playing the role of a German sea captain. Well, he does here and does very well indeed in this very entertaining film. Here he has a decent script to work with that gives him an opportunity to shine. Both Wayne and Turner seem to grow in their respective roles.

The film looks and sounds great on DVD with its original CinemaScope aspect ratio intact. A very entertaing film set on the high seas. Enjoy.

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Having John Wayne play a German Ship Captain (and an anti-nazi one at that) in World War Two made for an enjoyable change from his 'usual' roles, and underlined an important, though understated historical fact: that not all Germans in that time period were pro-Hitler, though they fought for their country out of love for country. That was so well shown when Wayne's character threw out the Swastika Flag and raised the World War One German Battle flag when his ship was challenged. This was a prime example of what made it an enjoyable film for me.

Honest reviews on The Sea Chase (1955)

I have to say, this movie is wonderful and has wonderful people in it. John Wayne was a brilliant actor, and is so in this movie.

The fact he's a German who is vehemently anti-Nazi is a calling to people in coutries that fall under the same circumstances as Germany under Hitler that they don't have to take it. I think many people miss this point and say "oh, isn't it nice there are always nice people on both sides...". Yes, there's that too, but the other point should be taken as well.

I'm shocked by all the reviews here that complain about the lack of German accents. These people obviously have NO classic movie knowledge/haven't watched many classics. John Wayne would have been laughed out of the theater in this film if he'd had a German accent!

There's also complaints about Lana always being "fixed" and pulled together. Here's why: movies used to be MOVIES. There were escapism and entertainment. People didn't used to like going to the movies to see people be "real" and get all roughed up. They liked the glamour. So if Lana's dress is never wrinkled, that was a good thing.

AND!...

They could use their imaginations a little! Back then--when they made good, decent, classic, wonderful movies with people that actually had talent--the public didn't need someone's guts to fall out and blood to splatter everywhere to understand someone was hurt when they were shot. You'd here a bang and the person would fall down, and that was good enough. So, really, do you need The Duke to attempt a ridiculous German accent to understand he's German??? Not that he couldn't do it, but why would you want him to?

So, I just HAD to post a review to address that nonsense from other posters. The movie is great with two of the greatest movies stars of all time (The Duke being *the greatest ever*). I'd highly recommend it. It's full of action with a good helping of romance. Fantastic!

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It's almost axiomatic that whatever movie John Wayne was part of could be given several stars, but this one is so atypical to his roles that it is seems unusual that he would choose it.

Recently I saw the movie on AMC, not having watched the movie in many years. Recently too, I became aware that the DVD had been issued. Having a good impression of the movie after seeing it on AMC, I purchased the DVD.

I prefer John Wayne in westerns, and am most familiar and comfortable with the 'saddle em up & move em out' roles, that it takes a bit of role switching to see him as a World War II German freighter captain. But John Wayne was so adaptable in his acting abilities that it comes across just fine; and with Lana Turner, an oft-times underrated actress, his performance gets only better.

If you like a World War II action adventure based on fact, intertwined with human interest, this is a very good DVD to add to your collection.

Recommended.

Semper Fi.