Brown on Resolution

Brown on Resolution (1935)

Forever England gives John Mills his first leading role as Brown. Born after a brief affair between his mother and a naval officer, he joins the Royal Navy during the First World War. There his bravery and marksmanship keeps a German ship in port so a British ship can sink it. He becomes a hero, but at what cost?

Date of release
1935-05-15
TMDB
6.2 / 10 (8)
Runtime
1h 10m
Genres
Action, War
Director
Walter Forde

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Based on: Brown on Resolution

Brown on Resolution is a 1935 film directed by Walter Forde and Anthony Asquith and starring John Mills in his first lead role. It was written by J. O. C. Orton based on the 1929 C. S. Forester novel of the same title. The film is notable for being the first film to use actual Royal Navy ships. The plot is centred on the illegitimate son of a British naval officer helping to bring about the downfall of a German cruiser during World War I.

Production

In July 1933 Gaumont British announced they would make a film of the novel. Production was delayed as the studio negotiated with the Admiralty for co operation. In August 1933 it was announced as part of a two year slate of £1 million from Gaumont British.

In November the studio announced it would make the film as part of their next line up of projects. In January 1934 Walter Forde was announced as director.

By June 1934 the film had still not been made. The Admiralty had given some indication they would co operate, but William Fisher, Commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, was unhappy at the thought of British sailors playing Germans in the film, thinking it would be bad for morale.

In October the Admiralty agreed to cooperate. The "German raider Zeithen" was played by British C-class cruiser HMS Curacoa which sank after a collision with RMS Queen Mary, 2 October 1942; "Second-class cruiser HMS Rutland" was played by destroyer leader HMS Broke which sank after receiving shore battery fire in Algiers, 8 November 1942, and "Armoured Cruiser HMS Leopard" by the new Leander-class cruiser HMS Neptune which was sunk 19 December 19…

In July Gaumont announced the role of the mother would be played by Betty Balfour, a silent film star who had recently made a comeback in Evergreen. The cast included war hero Henry Hugh Gordon Stoker. He had been in a production of Journey's End with Mills. John Mills recalled O went for the main part, but I was told I didn’t look enough like a sailor. The next day, I borrowed a sailor’s uniform, went back and got the job.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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