The Cruel Sea (1953 film)

The Cruel Sea
Original British film poster
Directed by	Charles Frend
Written by	Eric Ambler
Based on	The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat
Produced by	Leslie Norman, Norman Priggen & Michael Balcon (executive producer)
Starring	Jack Hawkins Donald Sinden Denholm Elliott Virginia McKenna Stanley Baker
Cinematography	Gordon Dines
Edited by	Peter Tanner
Music by	Alan Rawsthorne
Production company	Ealing Studios
Distributed by	GDF (UK) Universal-International (US)
Release dates	24 March 1953 (1953-03-24) (UK) 19 August 1953 (1953-08-19) (US)
Running time	126 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	$840,000 (UK) $600,000 (US)[1]

The Cruel Sea is a 1953 British war film based on the best-selling 1951 novel of the same name by former naval officer Nicholas Monsarrat, though the screenplay by Eric Ambler omits some of the novel's grimmest moments. The film stars Jack Hawkins, Donald Sinden, Denholm Elliott, Stanley Baker, Liam Redmond, Virginia McKenna and Moira Lister. The movie was made by Ealing Studios seven years after the end of World War II, and was directed by Charles Frend and produced by Leslie Norman.

The film portrays the conditions in which the Battle of the Atlantic was fought between the Royal Navy and Germany's U-boats, seen from the viewpoint of the British naval officers and seamen who served in convoy escorts.