Gift Horse (film)
Encyclopedia
Gift Horse is a 1952 British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 war film starring Trevor Howard
Trevor Howard
Trevor Howard , born Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith, was an English film, stage and television actor.-Early life:...

 and Richard Attenborough
Richard Attenborough
Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough , CBE is a British actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. As director and producer he won two Academy Awards for the 1982 film Gandhi...

.

The film follows the story of the fictional ship HMS Ballantrae and her crew from the time they come together in 1940 until they go on a one-way mission to destroy a German-held dry dock in France.

Synopsis

A disgraced former commander re-enlists in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 during the Second World War. He forms the crew of his run-down ship, "HMS Ballantrae", ex "USS Whittier", one of the Town class destroyers from the Destroyers for Bases Agreement
Destroyers for Bases Agreement
The Destroyers for Bases Agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom, September 2, 1940, transferred fifty mothballed destroyers from the United States Navy in exchange for land rights on British possessions...

, into an efficient fighting force, before being sent on Operation Boadicea, a suicide mission.

Historical basis

The first half of the film depicts an overview of the Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...

 destroyers, from their handing over to the Royal Navy, their working-up into fighting units despite their old age and limitations, and their dangerous work as convoy escorts during the Battle of the Atlantic
Battle of the Atlantic
Battle of the Atlantic may refer to either of two naval campaigns:* The Atlantic U-boat Campaign during the First World War * The Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War...

. The latter part of the film is clearly based on HMS Campbeltown
HMS Campbeltown (I42)
HMS Campbeltown was a "Town"-class destroyer of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She was originally an American destroyer , and, like many other obsolescent U.S. Navy destroyers, she was transferred to the Royal Navy in 1940 as part of the Destroyers for Bases Agreement. Campbeltown...

 and the St. Nazaire Raid
St. Nazaire Raid
The St Nazaire Raid or Operation Chariot was a successful British amphibious attack on the heavily defended Normandie dry dock at St Nazaire in German-occupied France during the Second World War. The operation was undertaken by the Royal Navy and British Commandos under the auspices of Combined...

.

Cast

  • Trevor Howard
    Trevor Howard
    Trevor Howard , born Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith, was an English film, stage and television actor.-Early life:...

     as Lieutenant Commander Hugh Algernon Fraser
  • Richard Attenborough
    Richard Attenborough
    Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough , CBE is a British actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. As director and producer he won two Academy Awards for the 1982 film Gandhi...

     as 'Dripper' Daniels
  • James Donald
    James Donald
    James Donald was a Scottish actor. Tall and thin, he usually specialised in playing authority figures.Donald was born in Aberdeen, and made his first professional stage appearance sometime in the late-1930s, having been educated at Rossall School on Lancashire's Fylde coast...

     as Lieutenant Richard Jennings, No. 1
  • Sonny Tufts
    Sonny Tufts
    Sonny Tufts was a United States film actor....

     as Yank Flanagan
  • Bernard Lee
    Bernard Lee
    John Bernard Lee was an English actor, best known for his role as M in the first eleven James Bond films.-Life and career:...

     as Able Seaman 'Stripey' Wood
  • Dora Bryan
    Dora Bryan
    Dora May Bryan OBE is an English actress of stage, film and television.-Early life:Bryan was born as Dora May Broadbent in Southport, Lancashire, England. Her father was a salesman and she attended Hathershaw County Primary School in Oldham, Lancashire...

     as Gladys Flanagan
  • Hugh Williams
    Hugh Williams
    Hugh Williams was an English actor and dramatist of Welsh descent.-Personal life:...

     as Captain David G. Wilson, Division Commander
  • Meredith Edwards
    Meredith Edwards (actor)
    Gwilym Meredith Edwards was a Welsh character actor and writer.He was born in Rhosllannerchrugog, Denbighshire, Wales, the son of a collier. He became an actor in 1938, first with the Welsh National Theatre Company, then the Liverpool Playhouse...

     as Jones
  • Robin Bailey
    Robin Bailey
    Robin Bailey was an English actor. He was born in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire.Although often chosen for upper class and tradition-bound roles such as Judge Graves in Thames Television's Rumpole Of The Bailey, Bailey is perhaps most fondly remembered for his portrayal of Uncle Mort in I Didn't Know...

     as Lieutenant Michael Grant, ship's pilot
  • Patric Doonan
    Patric Doonan
    Patric Doonan was a British stage and screen actor. He featured in films of the time as The Blue Lamp, Train of Events and The Cockleshell Heroes but never played the leads...

     as Petty Officer Martin
  • Sid James
    Sid James
    Sid James was an English-based South African actor and comedian. He made his name as Tony Hancock's co-star in Hancock's Half Hour and also starred in the popular Carry On films. He was known for his trademark "dirty laugh" and lascivious persona...

     as Ned Hardy, owner of Golden Bull public house
  • James Kenney as John A. Fraser, Hugh's son
  • Charles Lloyd Pack
    Charles Lloyd Pack
    Charles Lloyd-Pack was a British film, television and stage actor.He was born in London, England. He was seen in several horror movies produced by the Hammer Studios including Dracula, The Man Who Could Cheat Death, The Revenge of Frankenstein and The Reptile and Quatermass 2, the film version of...

     as ship's doctor
  • Joan Rice
    Joan Rice
    Joan Rice was a British film actress.Rice is best known for her role as Dalabo in the film His Majesty O'Keefe which co-started Burt Lancaster...

     as June Mallory, WREN
    Women's Royal Naval Service
    The Women's Royal Naval Service was the women's branch of the Royal Navy.Members included cooks, clerks, wireless telegraphists, radar plotters, weapons analysts, range assessors, electricians and air mechanics...

     cypher clerk
  • Harold Siddons
    Harold Siddons
    Harold Siddons was a British film and television actor, appearing in Genevieve, The Dam Busters, Appointment in London, They Who Dare, The Purple Plain, Quatermass and the Pit, A Night To Remember and The Wrong Arm of the Law...

     as Admiral Bartlett


Production

The real-life ship used in the film was HMS Leamington. Built in 1919 as the USS Twiggs, the ship was transferred to the Royal Navy in October 1940 and served on convoy duty including as an escort for PQ17. In 1943 she was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy as HMCS Leamington. After a short period paid off into reserve in 1944, she was transferred to the Russian Navy to become the Zguchij. Returned to the Royal Navy in 1950 she was listed for disposal in 1951, but before being broken up the ship was hired for the Gift Horse film. She was finally broken up in December 1951.
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