Clive Brook headlines this rather dry wartime flagwaver, but Morland Graham probably bags mores screen time as a modest riveter whose unwavering faith in the shipbuilding industry helps him overcome numerous domestic difficulties. The first two-thirds of the film feels like filler for the final third, which rams home the importance of shipbuilding to national defence with stern speeches from Brook and a ceaseless wave of montage sequences.
THE SHIPBUILDERS is a slice of social drama from Britian, with a heavy dose of propaganda added to the mix; this was made in 1943 after all. The film charts the life of a number of working class heroes, the shipbuilders of the title, playing their trade in the north.
This is a film from someone whom I consider to be one of the great directors of British cinema of the 30s and 40s.The BFI have published a book about him and he had a season of films at the BFI Southbank.
