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26-403: Passage Home is a 1955 British drama film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Anthony Steel , Peter Finch and Diane Cilento . The screenplay was by William Fairchild based on the 1952 novel of the same name by Richard Armstrong . Captain "Lucky" Ryland is about to retire. He has a flashback of several years to a voyage on a merchant ship which he was captaining from South America. He

52-672: A British film production company based in Islington , London. His first jobs were menial, and he progressed rapidly to location scouting and second-unit directing. In 1938 he was appointed assistant director on Alfred Hitchcock 's The Lady Vanishes (1938). He served in the Army during the Second World War , joining the Army Kinematograph Service in 1943 as a production manager and director of documentaries . One of his superiors

78-463: A lengthy defence in 1981 of Glen or Glenda . Another change was that all reviews had a byline – up to September 1968, only the reviews of films considered more significant by the BFI had a partial byline of initials only (so Tom Milne would be "T.M."). From January 1971, all films were listed in alphabetical order, mainly because a new wave of critics who were influencing the magazine had already overturned

104-502: Is a subplot about the dissatisfaction of the ship's crew with being fed rotten potatoes, which Ryland has bought cheaply simply to save money. Ryland says a good cook would still be able to use them productively. The potatoes are dumped overboard and Ryland is determined to find out who is responsible by offering the crew £5 for any information as to who did it. Vosper accuses Shorty, who is acting oddly, and they fight. Ike intervenes and fights Vosper. Shorty then confesses to Ike but Ike takes

130-445: Is forced to give passage to a British governess , Ruth Elton, who is returning to England . Both Ryland and his second mate, Vosper, fall for Ruth. Ryland proposes to Ruth and when she turns down his offer he tries to rape her in his cabin but she is rescued by Vosper. The ship survives a very severe storm in which Vosper saves Ruth's life outside on deck after which Ruth and Vosper realize that they are in love with each other. There

156-406: Is lost at its crisis by the intervention of the storm, a deus ex machina in disguise which takes up an unconscionable amount of footage. There are good minor performances by Gordon Jackson, Bryan Forbes and Cyril Cusack." Filmink argued the film would have been more successful if a war film. Roy Ward Baker Roy Ward Baker (born Roy Horace Baker; 19 December 1916 – 5 October 2010)

182-559: The BBC2 Two series British Film Forever (2007) and in Mark Gatiss 's BBC Four series, A History of Horror (2010), in which he gave his final recorded interview. In the early 1960s, Baker became aware of name confusion with another Roy Baker in the industry, a dubbing editor. After nothing came of his suggestion that the editor change his name, in 1967 Baker changed his own screen credit, adopting his mother's maiden name "Ward". Baker

208-811: The black comedy The Anniversary (1968), and co-directed (with Hong Kong director Chang Cheh ) the Hammer- Shaw Brothers Studio collaboration The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974). In the latter part of the 1970s he returned to television, and throughout the 1980s continued to work on shows including The Irish R.M. and Minder . He retired in 1992. In 2000, Baker published his memoirs, The Director's Cut: A Memoir of 60 Years in Film and Television , and in 2002 sold his production files and letters at auction. He contributed interviews to several DVD extras, such as those included with The Saint and Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), and took part in

234-590: The "only interesting thing about" the film was it used a new form of back projection. Diane Cilento's casting was announced in September 1954. She was cast after producer Julian Wintle had seen 60 people. Cilento had only recently appeared on stage in The Big Knife and signed a five-year contract with Alex Korda. Her co star was Peter Finch, a fellow Australian. The film was shot at Pinewood Studios in November 1954. It

260-505: The 1960s and early 1970s, directing shows including The Avengers , The Saint , The Persuaders! , The Human Jungle , The Champions , and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) . He continued to work in films, directing, among others, Quatermass and the Pit (1967), The Vampire Lovers (1970) and Scars of Dracula (1970) for Hammer , and Asylum (1972) and The Vault of Horror (1973) for Amicus . He also directed Bette Davis in

286-420: The 1970s, the tone and style of its reviews had changed considerably, and was increasingly influenced in some cases by the auteur theory and Marxist-influenced film theory, though some more traditional critics such as John Gillett remained, and others such as David McGillivray and Paul Taylor took exploitation movies more seriously than had previously been considered acceptable, while Steve Jenkins wrote

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312-511: The UK. The Monthly Film Bulletin was originally published to allow UK cinema managers to decide what films to show, hence the complete cast and production lists, full plot followed by a thorough critique. Only films that had been registered with the UK government trade authority were covered each month. During the years of full supporting programmes, The Monthly Film Bulletin printed long lists of B-features and short films with brief capsule reviews; by

338-497: The blame. Probably due to the fight, Ike, who is already known to be ill, takes to his bed and dies. He is buried at sea in a makeshift coffin. At the allotted time of the funeral Ryland is drunk, drowning his sorrow in whisky due to being rejected by Ruth (whom he had seriously assaulted, ripping her dress). The red ensign is flown at half mast. Ryland struggles to find the right pages in the Book of Common Prayer and loses his place. When

364-446: The body is slid overboard they recite the Lord's Prayer . That night Ryland is even more drunk. The steward brings his dinner and he rudely demands that he "do his job" and tidy his room. A violent storm is throwing things around. The ship is in trouble but Ryland musters himself and manages to give logical instructions to get her through the storm. Down below the engineer struggles to keep up

390-581: The power. In the hold things start sliding and Shorty is crushed by a crate holding a bull while pushing Burns to safety. They head for "The Lizard" . Ruth goes on deck and is in danger of being swept away when part of the safety railing is destroyed. Vosper saves her and carries her to her cabin where they kiss. Coming out of flashback, Ruth and Vosper are now married and are attending Ryland's retirement function. Ryland shakes her hand and calls her "Mrs Vosper". The film ends with Ruth looking at Ryland in tears because she still has feelings for Ryland after all of

416-426: The supporting figures achieve a measure of individuality. The main situation, however, is insufficiently explored. Only Ryland (played with an effective, sullen concentration by Peter Finch) emerges as a fully rounded figure; Ruth (Diane Cilento, a clearly interesting personality here none too happily cast) remains an elusive, too passive character, and Vosper (Anthony Steel) is colourless. The triangle situation, anyway,

442-503: The years. It was Roy Ward Baker's first film after working for several years in Hollywood. Baker's biographer would later write "although he [Baker] was disappointed in the eventual result Passage Home was the quintessential 1940s and 1950s Baker film – classical in style and melodramatic/generic in its basic structure... it conveys a quiet, pervasive sense of despair in its storyline, involving melancholy and sexual repression." The script

468-494: Was novelist Eric Ambler , who gave Baker his first big break directing The October Man (1947), from an Ambler screenplay. His next two films, The Weaker Sex (1948) and Paper Orchid (1949), were popular but overshadowed by the success of Morning Departure (1950). The latter drew international attention to Baker and Darryl F. Zanuck , production head of 20th Century Fox , invited him to Hollywood , although his first film for Fox – I'll Never Forget You (1951) –

494-473: Was a splendid production, storm sequences and all that stuff." The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "This is a film made with considerable if impersonal accomplishment, and an efficient surface realism; the story has promising elements, and there is evidence of determination in the writing generally to get beyond the stereotype in the characterisations of the crew of the Bulinga. To a limited extent, it succeeds, and

520-698: Was an English film director. He was known professionally as Roy Baker until 1967, when he adopted Roy Ward Baker as his screen credit. Baker was born in Hornsey , London , where his father was a Billingsgate wholesale fish merchant. He was educated at a Lycée in Rouen , France , and at the City of London School . Baker's first job, in 1933 aged 17, was in the mail room at the Columbia Gramophone Company . From 1934 to 1939, he worked for Gainsborough Pictures ,

546-482: Was by William Fairchild who had written Morning Departure (1950), alo directed by Baker. The director called it "a bomb in the bomb locker story... all pretty formula stuff. It's not very good... The whole film should have been set in 1885 on a sailing ship. It was sort of a Victorian film. It just didn't work as a modern day film." He added "there was this fatal flaw, it was an old-fashioned story in an almost contemporary setting and it didn’t really work." Baker felt

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572-410: Was edited in the mid-1950s by David Robinson , in the late 1950s and early 1960s by Peter John Dyer, and then by Tom Milne . By the end of the 1960s, when the character and tone of its reviews changed considerably with the arrival of a new generation of critics influenced by the student culture and intellectual tumult of the time (not least the overthrow of old ideas of "taste" and quality), David Wilson

598-529: Was made in the UK. Baker worked for three years at Fox where he directed Marilyn Monroe in Don't Bother to Knock (1952) and Robert Ryan in the 3D film noir Inferno (1953). He returned to the UK in 1953 and continued to work in films. Towards the end of the decade, he directed one of his best known movies : A Night to Remember , a reconstitution of the Titanic tragedy. Baker worked for television during

624-652: Was married to Muriel Bradford from 1940 to 1944. In 1948, he married Joan Dixon, with whom he had a son. They divorced in 1984. Baker died on 5 October 2010, aged 93. Baker directed A Night to Remember (1958) which won a Golden Globe for Best English-Language Foreign Film in 1959. Films credited to Roy Baker are marked *. Films made by the Army Kinematograph Service are marked AKS. Productions credited to Roy Baker are marked * The Monthly Film Bulletin The Monthly Film Bulletin

650-490: Was the editor. It was then edited by Jan Dawson (1938 – 1980), for two years from 1971, and from 1973 until its demise by the New Zealand-born critic Richard Combs. In 1991, The Monthly Film Bulletin was merged with Sight & Sound , which had until then been published quarterly. Sight & Sound then became a monthly publication and took up The Monthly Film Bulletin' s remit to review all films released in

676-465: Was the first film Finch made under a new five-year contract with the Rank Organisation. It was also the first film Michael Craig made under contract to Rank. He said filming went for over three months and was impressed by the set, saying "the art department, if no one else, had done us proud." Baker said "the film went out and they probably made a bit of money on it. It was certainly well made. It

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