Main Cast: Richard Attenborough, George Baker, Bill Owen, Virginia McKenna, Roland Culver
Release Year: 1955
Country: UK
Run Time: 91 minutes
Plot
Richard Attenborough stars as a former crew member of a British gunboat, which was distinguished by a heroic wartime record. Attenborough and several fellow ex-crewmen buy the vessel in peacetime. They clean, paint and renovate the ship, then proceed to launch a smuggling operation. The film gradually veers towards fantasy as the ship itself assumes a "conscience" and starts to rebel against the crew's criminal activity. The Ship That Died of Shame tempers its moralizing with some first-rate comedy vignettes during the renovation sequences. The film was shorn of nearly 15 minutes and retitled PT Raiders for its first American run, but both original title and full running time were restored for television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
It is based on a story written by Nicholas Monsarrat (better known as the author of The Cruel Sea). It was originally published in Lilliput magazine in 1952. It was later published in a collection of short stories (The Ship That Died of Shame and other stories, 1959, ISBN 0330104993).
Plot
The 1087 is a British Royal Navymotor torpedo boat that faithfully sees its crew through the worst that World War II can throw at them. After the end of the war, George Hoskins (Richard Attenborough) convinces former skipper Bill Randall (George Baker) and Birdie (Bill Owen) to buy their beloved boat and use it for some harmless, minor smuggling of black market items like wine. But they find themselves transporting ever more sinister cargoes; counterfeit currency and weapons. Though their craft had been utterly reliable and never let them down in wartime, it begins to break down frequently, as if ashamed of its current use. The crew revolt when they are used in the escape of a child murderer and (probable) paedophile.
