The Sea Shall Not Have Them [Lewis Gilbert, 1954]:
A rousing, men on a mission survival drama, which essentially cross-cuts two stories of wartime bravery, one involving the crew of an RAF Air Sea Rescue boat, the other involving the crew of a downed bomber stranded in a dinghy in the North Sea. Director Lewis Gilbert, who co-wrote the screenplay with Vernon Harris, uses the inherent conflicts and contrasts of the situation to document the minutiae of the RAF crew (the ranks and hierarchies) while engaging in scenes of intimate human drama. It's a great ensemble piece with some never-gratuitous gallows humor.
