''Sailors Three'' (released in the US as ''Three Cockeyed Sailors'') is a 1940 British

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Walter Forde Walter Forde (born Thomas Seymour Woolford, 21 April 1898 – 7 January 1984) was a British actor, screenwriter and Film director, director. Born in Lambeth, south London in 1898, he directed over fifty films between 1919 from the silent era ...

and starring

Tommy Trinder Thomas Edward Trinder CBE (24 March 1909 – 10 July 1989) was an English stage, screen and radio comedian whose catchphrase was "You lucky people!". Described by cultural historian Matthew Sweet as "a cocky, front-of-cloth variety turn", he was ...

Claude Hulbert Claude Noel Hulbert (25 December 1900 – 23 January 1964) was a mid-20th century English stage, radio and cinema comic actor. Early life Claude Hulbert was born in Fulham in West London on Christmas Day 1900. He was the younger brother of J ...

and

Carla Lehmann Carla Lehmann (26 February 1917 – 1 December 1990) was a Canadian-born stage, film and television actress. Career Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada, Lehmann was the youngest of the five children of Dr Julius Lehmann and Elsa Hillerns. Sh ...

. This was cockney music hall comedian Trinder's debut for

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was histor ...

, the studio with which he was to become most closely associated. It concerns three British sailors who accidentally find themselves aboard a German ship during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Detailed surveys published in Britain in the early years of the war by the "

Mass-Observation Mass-Observation is a United Kingdom social research project; originally the name of an organisation which ran from 1937 to the mid-1960s, and was revived in 1981 at the University of Sussex. Mass-Observation originally aimed to record everyday ...

" organisation, showed the popularity of comedy with wartime cinema audiences. Films with the war as a subject were particularly well received, especially those movies showing the lighter side of service life, largely because many in the audience would soon be finding themselves in uniform. John Oliver writes in

BFI screenonline Screenonline is a website about the history of British film, television and social history as documented by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute and funded by a £1.2 million grant from the National Lot ...

, " to prepare such potential recruits for their own possible riotous and fun-packed life in the Royal Navy, Sandy Powell had already taken the shilling in ''All At Sea'' (dir.

Herbert Smith Herbert Smith LLP was a multinational law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The firm was founded in the City of London in 1882 by Norman Herbert Smith and merged with the Australian law firm Freehills on 1 October 2012, forming Herber ...

, 1939) before Tommy Trinder did likewise with ''Sailors Three'', following his comic misadventures in the army in '' Laugh It Off'' (dir. John Baxter) earlier that same year." The song "All Over The Place" (words by

Frank Eyton Frank Eyton (30 August 1894 – 11 November 1962) was an English popular music lyricist best known for co-writing the lyrics of Johnny Green's " Body and Soul" (1930) with Edward Heyman and Robert Sour. Frank Eyton biographyat Allmusic - retrieved ...

; music by

Noel Gay Noel or Noël may refer to: Christmas * , French for Christmas * Noel is another name for a Christmas carol Places * Noel, Missouri, United States, a city * Noel, Nova Scotia, Canada, a community * 1563 Noël, an asteroid *Mount Noel, Briti ...

), sung by Trinder in the film, became one of the most popular of the war.Based on sheet music sales.

Plot

During the Second World War, three Royal Navy sailors on a drunken spree in a Brazilian neutral port mistake a German ship for their own and climb aboard. It turns out to be a

pocket battleship The ''Deutschland'' class was a series of three ''Panzerschiffe'' (armored ships), a form of heavily armed cruiser, built by the ''Reichsmarine'' officially in accordance with restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. The ships of the cl ...

, the ''Ludendorff'', and to the credit of the Royal Navy, the trio manages to capture the ship and all the Germans on board.

Cast

as Tommy Taylor *

as Llewellyn Davies, 'The Admiral' *

as Jane Davies *

Michael Wilding Michael Charles Gauntlet Wilding (23 July 1912 – 8 July 1979) was an English stage, television, and film actor. He is best known for a series of films he made with Anna Neagle; he also made two films with Alfred Hitchcock, '' Under Capric ...

as Johnny Meadows * James Hayter as Hans Muller *

Jeanne de Casalis Jeanne de Casalis (22 May 1897 – 19 August 1966) was a Basutoland-born British actress of stage, radio, TV and film. Born in Basutoland as Jeanne Casalis de Pury, she was educated in France, where her businessman father was the proprietor of ...

as Mrs Pilkington * Henry Hewitt as Professor Pilkington * Brian Fitzpatrick as Digby Pilkington *

John Laurie John Paton Laurie (25 March 1897 – 23 June 1980) was a Scottish actor. In the course of his career, Laurie performed on the stage and in films as well as television. He is perhaps best remembered for his role in the sitcom ''Dad's Army'' (196 ...

as McNab *

Harold Warrender Harold John Warrender (15 November 1903 – 6 May 1953) was a British stage, film and television actor, and radio presenter. His father was Sir George Warrender, 7th Baronet. His mother was Lady Ethel Maud Ashley Cooper, a singer and patro ...

as Pilot's Mate *

Eric Clavering Eric Clavering (1901–1989) was a British-born actor who spent much of his career in Canada. He played supporting roles in a number of British films during the Second World War. He later moved to Canada, and had a recurring role on the Canadian ...

as Bartender *

John Glyn-Jones John Glyn-Jones (28 August 1908 – 21 January 1997) was a British stage, radio, television and film actor. His father, William Glyn-Jones, was a Member of Parliament and he was educated at Bishop's Stortford College and Oxford University. He ...

as Best Man *

John Wengraf John Wengraf (23 April 1897 – 4 May 1974) was an Austrian actor. Early years Wengraf was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary. Career Wengraf became a matinee idol in the 1930s, and was director of the Vienna State Theatre. He emigrated to Brit ...

as German Captain *

Manning Whiley Manning Hedges Whiley (23 January 191529 January 1975) was a British actor. Partial filmography * ''Trunk Crime'' (1939) - Bentley * '' The Four Just Men'' (1939) - (uncredited) * '' Pack Up Your Troubles'' (1940) - Muller * '' Contraband'' (19 ...

as German Commander * Victor Fairley as German Petty Officer * Alec Clunes as British Pilot *

Derek Elphinstone Derek Elphinstone (1913–1999) was a British actor. Derek Elphinstone was born on 15 October 1913 in Surrey. He was the son of Montague Elphinstone was also an actor and from a family of actors. Montague Elphinstone served in the Boer War and the ...

as British Observer * E.V.H. Emmett as Newsreel Commentator (uncredited)

Critical response

* ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' called it "a funny comedy from the propagandistic Ealing studios". *Britmovie concluded director "

’s music-hall training enabled him to see that the gags were well-timed." *In the

, John Oliver writes, "Trinder may have made more distinguished films at Ealing, but Sailors Three was not only a promising start at the studio but the film that would remain his most successful outright comedy."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sailors Three 1940 films 1940s war comedy films Films directed by Walter Forde Ealing Studios films British war comedy films British black-and-white films Military humor in film World War II films made in wartime 1940 comedy films 1940s English-language films 1940s British films