The Cruel Sea Overview:

The Cruel Sea (1953) was a Drama - War Film directed by Charles Frend and produced by Michael Balcon.

Academy Awards 1953 --- Ceremony Number 26 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best WritingEric AmblerNominated
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THE CRUEL SEA On Blu-ray From Kino

By Dan Day, Jr. on May 4, 2025 From The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog

THE CRUEL SEA is a 1953 WWII film from England's famed Ealing Studios, based on a novel by Nicholas Monsarrat, with a screenplay by Eric Ambler and direction by Charles Frend. The movie details the wartime experiences of one Captain Ericson (Jack Hawkins). Ericson was a merchant ship captain before ... Read full article


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The film debut of Alec McCowen
When the film was made in 1952, no Flower Class corvettes remained in Royal Navy service. The ship used was therefore the Greek corvette Kriezis, brought to Britain for scrapping. She was already scrapped by the time the film premiered.
The Compass Rose was played by ex-HMS Coreopsis. She was given the number K49 in the film which was the number of HMS Crocus (sometimes wrongly thought to have been used in the film). The real number of the Coreopsis was K32.
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Also directed by Charles Frend




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Also produced by Michael Balcon




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Also released in 1953




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