1943's Action in the North Atlantic is quite frankly an enjoyable bit of film, and is one of the few WWII films to focus on the efforts of the civilian merchant marine fleet which brought much-need supplies to Allied troops all over the world.

Sure it's a period "propaganda" film. That much is almost expected. And at times the "prop" comes across as pure aged-cheddar cheese, especially the closing lines of the film. But as I say a lot, context is everything, and folks ate it up.

Humphrey Bogart pulls off another "40's Ahnold" role as the stoic but still-vulnerable first mate, and Raymond Massey's Captain is a role-model character. The rest of the crew delivers equally, providing a lot of humor, a great bit of which was probably pretty risque back in the day.

The mechanics of the fleet convoy are illustrated well, as is the entire operation. We get to see the role of the folks "on the homefront" as well, and how the merchant marines were needed just as badly as our uniformed boys... and missed just as much.

The action is pretty good at points, although I think their German translators needed a bit more schooling! Parts of the U-boat scenes came across pretty funny.

Definitely worth a viewing, if nothing else as a history lesson into one of the more obscure aspects of the war.

Technorati Tags: war movies, action in the north atlantic, bogart, massey, world war ii, liberty ship, merchant marines