Dangerous Voyage [DVD]

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Erm, there are a few hills south of Resolute,’ says Oliver. ‘The rest is shingle bank and slight undulations. For me, the attraction is spending time in remote places and making an effort to get there. Bear Grylls, a friend whom I hugely respect, has been through the Passage in a speedboat. Where is the fun in that?’ Navigating ice, orcas, Bear Grylls and the occasional French film star is one thing; tiptoeing around the eggshells of political and bureaucratic sensitivities is another. Wary of amateur adventurers, the Canadian authorities insist on a laundry list of qualifications, competencies and permits. When we met, Stirling was trying to obtain a gun permit for Alaska. ‘As a matter of courtesy, I have also written to all the Inuit elders about our voyage.’ Needless to say the bookie is willing to overlook the debt for a bit of info on gold cargo deliveries. Watling is less than happy with this idea and tells the gang to get stuffed. He soon changes his mind after a sound beating and being told that the gang has kidnapped his young son. These included Americana such as "Another Language" (1933); musicals such as "Going Hollywood" (1933) and "Rose Marie (1936); comedy such as "Riptide" (1934)and classic dramas "Dinner at Eight" (1933) and "David Copperfield" (1935) for which he was nominated for an Oscar in the short lived category of Best Assistant Director.

Sara grew up on an island off Donegal. After reading psychology, she did an MA in maritime history, set up a boat-building business with her ex, and then did a course in child psychology, while bringing up five children: Oona, now 33, Harry 31, Esme, 23, Alfie, 15 and Grace, 13. (‘Will produced the last two.’) The story is intriguing and suspenseful generally, the mystery not routine or implausible. Rennie is admirably restrained and sympathetic and Crain does more than credibly and is fully committed in a difficult role of this nature to pull off. The rest of the cast are solid.What happens when you are iced up in the middle of nowhere and the voice in your head sounds like the speaking tube of HMS Erebus?’ I ask. ‘Have you worked out who you’ll eat first?’ Some quality acting throughout, a whole host of talent, but credit to Jeanne Crain, she was quite brilliant I thought.

This low budget mystery thriller is intriguing right from the start and becomes incredibly tense following the unexplained disappearance of one of its main characters. The atmosphere steadily becomes more threatening and the presence of a number of rather suspicious-looking individuals soon fuels a profound sense of paranoia that continues to grow until the story's denouement finally provides some important explanations for what's transpired. A British b-pic heist thriller from ACT Productions, a company founded by the film technicians union with the aim of countering unemployment in the industry and it specialised in low budget programmers such as this. It went out on the Gaumont-British circuit supporting the Rita Hayworth picture, Miss Sadie Thompson in 1954. Trivia buffs will like to know that the storyline was provided by none other than Percy Hoskins who was chief crime reporter for the Daily Express newspaper.Newlyweds Ruth and John Bowman embark on a wondrous cruise, however soon after they set off, John vanishes, and leaves behind no trace, Ruth knows full well he's on board, but people question her very sanity.

Meanwhile, Stirling’s boat-building business was growing. ‘Stirling & Son has 12 employees,’ he says. ‘A welder, engineer, finisher, two apprentices – we fund our own apprenticeship scheme – and the rest are shipwrights. It is entirely commercial. We new-build and restore wooden and steel vessels from dinghy up to 200 tonnes.’ There is always something else to worry about,’ says Stirling. ‘Fog, ice and bad weather are the main worries, especially ice. The real danger is ice floes driven by wind and tides. At one tonne per cubic metre, you don’t want ice hitting you.’ Dangerous Crossing blends two hoary plot lines: the one where somebody suddenly disappears and whose very existence comes into question; and the one where a young woman marries a stranger about whom, to later chagrin, she knows absolutely nothing. Ruth is surprised when she receives a telephone call from John who tells her that they're both in danger and that she should trust no-one. This only increases her anguish and the presence of a sinister-looking elderly gentleman with a cane, a steward whose manner is rather strange and a wealthy divorcee who tells her that "husbands can get lost so easily", only add to her discomfort and her reliance on Dr Manning to solve the mystery of what's happened to John and also to discover the reason for his disappearance.

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I ask what has made the Passage ‘fashionable’. ‘Google Maps,’ shrugs Oliver. ‘Anyone can plan and dream from their armchair. GPS has fundamentally changed yachting, and EPIRB [emergency position-indicating radiobeacon] means that a rescue party will probably find you – eventually. Navigating the Passage is easier, more accessible and safer than ever, but not cheap.’

Newlyweds Jeanne Crain and Carl Betz board an ocean liner for a honeymoon cruise to Europe. He then promptly vanishes. Crain, reacting with swooning spells and hysterical outbursts, comes under the doting care of ship's doctor Michael Rennie, who's forever "prescribing" her things like shuffleboard or Champagne. (His cheekbones, meanwhile, threaten to pop right through his skin.) There are two rules,’ says Stirling. ‘No falling overboard, and no shouting – unless someone falls overboard, then lots of shouting. Will never thinks about his character,’ says Sara. ‘But when people go to the Arctic, it becomes an obsession. And you have that obsession.’ Also found the ending somewhat abrupt, although to me it actually wasn't a predictable one. Although the use of the foghorn is creepy and leaves one feeling unsettled, it could have been used less and not emphasised as much as it was. This time, Ms. Crane is a woman who has been married for only a few hours. Her and her new husband are taking an ocean voyage for their honeymoon. But, the husband goes to see the purser, telling his wife that he will meet her in the ships' dining room. Since this is a Carr story the husband, naturally, disappears and most of the rest of the movie finds Ms. Crane trying to convince the ships' crew that her husband did indeed board the ship with her and has vanished. Of course, everyone claims to have not seen her husband board with her and she is thought of as a mental case. But, as the movie unfolds, the ships' doctor, played by Michael Rennie, begins to think that there may be truth to her story. From the start, it's obvious that at least one crew member is part of a nefarious plot and that Ms. Crane is in grave danger. But, which crew member, or members, are part of the plot? The movie is well paced and comes to a satisfying conclusion.

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After considering, but dismissing, thatching as a career, Stirling turned to boat-building. Learning his craft in Lowestoft, he lived aboard a dinghy. ‘It was the biggest adventure,’ he says. ‘I began to sail around the harbour, which was littered with dead ships like in a Mad Max movie. I was hopeless. But when I got the boat moving, I thought, this is absolutely brilliant.’ Personal discipline is essential,’ he adds. ‘If everyone gets on, has fun, we handle the boat well, and we get through, then we win. If we make it to Alaska having fallen out with each other, then we fail. Tired, hungry, frightened, cold or wet, we must be polite, friendly and kind to each other.’ The film was shot at Merton Park Studios in London, [2] with sets designed by art director George Haslam. Location shooting took place in the English Channel, in Honfleur in France, and Shoreham in Sussex. While 'Dangerous Crossing' didn't strike me as a great film and could have been better than it was, especially considering that its potential was hardly small in the first place, a lot works in its favour and far outweighs the not so good. And if asked as to whether to recommend 'Dangerous Crossing', my answer would be a solid if not quite enthusiastic yes. There are a lot better films of this type and there are also worse, if this is the sort of film that appeals to you there should be plenty to like even if it doesn't reach masterpiece level. In 1950, the film "So Long at the Fair" debuted. It was the film about a brother and sister who went to the Paris Exhibition--only to have the brother disappear. Even more odd, no one seems to have remembered seeing him and soon the authorities seem to think she is losing her mind. Only three years later, a very, very similar film is released and "Dangerous Crossing" is essentially the same film but with a very different ending. I know that a few other similar films have been released--so clearly "Dangerous Crossing" won't get points for originality.