The Sea Wolves
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| The Sea Wolves | |
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| Directed by | Andrew V. McLaglen |
| Produced by | Euan Lloyd |
| Written by | Reginald Rose |
| Starring | Gregory Peck Roger Moore David Niven Trevor Howard Barbara Kellerman Patrick Macnee |
| Distributed by | Paramount |
| Release date(s) | 1980 |
| Running time | 120 m |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Sea Wolves is a 1980 war film starring Gregory Peck, Roger Moore and David Niven. The film is based on the book Boarding Party by James Leasor, which itself is based on a real incident which took place in the Second World War. The incident involved The Calcutta Light Horse's covert attack against a German merchantship which had been transmitting Allied positions to U-boats from the Mormugao Harbour in Portugal's neutral territory of Goa on 9 March 1943.
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[edit] Plot
During World War II, German submarines were sinking thousands of tons of British merchant shipping. British intelligence, based in India, believe information is being passed to the U-Boats by a radio transmitter hidden on board one of three German ships interned in Portuguese Goa. Since Portugal is not involved in the war, the ships are in neutral territory and cannot be attacked by conventional forces. British intelligence approach a territorial unit of ageing British ex-patriates to carry out the mission on their behalf.
[edit] Historical Fact
The film notes in its closing credits that during the first 11 days of March 1943, the U-boats sank 12 Allied ships in the Indian Ocean. But, after the Light Horse raid on Goa, only one ship was lost in the remainder of the month.
[edit] Cast
- Gregory Peck (Colonel Lewis Gordon Pugh)
- Roger Moore (Captain Gavin Stewart)
- David Niven (Colonel W.H. Grice)
- Trevor Howard (Jack Cartwright)
- Barbara Kellerman (Mrs. Cromwell)
- Patrick Macnee (Major 'Yogi' Crossley)
- Kenneth Griffith (Wilton)
- Patrick Allen (Colin Mackenzie)
- Wolf Kahler (Trompeta)
- Robert Hoffmann (U-Boat Captain)
[edit] Production notes
- The film reunited much of the cast and crew from 1978's The Wild Geese, including star Roger Moore, actor Kenneth Griffith, writer Reginald Rose, producer Euan Lloyd, director Andrew V. McLaglen, designer Syd Cain and composer Roy Budd.
- The film was dedicated to Lord Louis Mountbatten following his assassination by the IRA.
- The music score was composed by Roy Budd, who also used a new arrangement based on Richard Addinsell's Warsaw Concerto for the romantic scenes.
