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In Which We Serve Overview:

In Which We Serve (1942) was a Drama - War Film directed by Noel Coward and David Lean and produced by Noel Coward, Herbert Smith and Anthony Havelock-Allan.

Academy Awards 1943 --- Ceremony Number 16 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Special AwardTo Noel Coward for his outstanding production achievement in In Which We Serve.Won
Best PictureTwo CitiesNominated
Best WritingNoel CowardNominated

In Which We Serve BlogHub Articles:

In Which We Serve (1942)

In Which We Serve Directed by Noel Coward and David Lean Written by Noel Coward 1942/UK Two Cities Films First viewing/Netflix rental This has been the best yet in my mini-festival of 1942 British films made to prepare the populace for hard times to come. In Which We Serve is a tribute to a ship,... Read full article


In Which We Serve

“This is the story of a ship.”  It’s also about the men who served her and their wives who know they come second to her.  Real life survivor of the H.M.S Torrin, Noel Coward directs with David Lean in Lean’s first and Coward’s only film. After the H.M.S Torrin, a British destroyer, is su... Read full article


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In Which We Serve Quotes:

[first lines]
Voice: [voiceover] This is the story of a ship...
[long sequence of ship-building and launch]

[last lines]
Voice: [voiceover] Here ends the story of a ship, but there will always be other ships; we are an island race, through all our centuries the sea has ruled our destiny. There will always be other ships and men to sail in them. It is these men, in peace or war, to whom we owe so much. Above all victories, beyond all loss, in spite of changing values and a changing world they give to us, their countrymen, eternal and indominitable pride.
[sequence of ships launching and at sea]
Capt. Edward V. Kinross: Open fire!
Voice: God bless our ships... and all who sail in them.
[close-up of the Royal Navy ensign]
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In Which We Serve Facts
Celia Johnson's lengthy scene in which she makes a moving toast to her rival - her husband's ship - was done in one take.

After about three weeks of shooting, Coward realized that (a) Lean knew a lot more about the film-making process than he did and (b) he didn't care much for the long hours. So Coward effectively handed the entire directorial reins over to his partner at that point.

Shorty Blake's (John Mills) baby, born in the air raid that kills Walter Hardy's (Bernard Miles) wife and mother-in-law, is played by one-year-old Juliet Mills.

John Mills claimed that Noel Coward wrote the part of Shorty Blake specifically for him in order "to give him a job".

Noel Coward was nervous at the prospect of directing and asked his friend John Mills if he could recommend someone to help him. Mills suggested "the best editor in the country", David Lean.

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