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<\/p>\nSony surprises us with another fine 4K upgrade for an unheralded classic in the Columbia library. It\u2019s a shipwreck survival tale that challenges ship\u2019s officer Tyrone Power with a series of impossible decisions. The most important is a heartbreaker: everyone will drown if the 9-person lifeboat continues to carry the 26 people presently clinging to it. To save as many as possible \u2014 to save anybody \u2014 logic dictates that some must be thrown overboard. What is a responsible ship\u2019s officer to do? \u00a0Mai Zetterling, Lloyd Nolan, Stephen Boyd, and Moira Lister lead the ensemble of souls at sea in this surprisingly uncompromised thriller.<\/p>\n
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Abandon Ship \u00a0<\/p>\n Alfred Hitchcock\u2019s wartime film \u00a0Lifeboat<\/a> took all the honors for the direction of a taut thriller restricted to the cramped confines of ship\u2019s lifeboat. Abandon Ship goes in a different direction by doing away with the Hollywood safety net. Enough awful things happen, that we can\u2019t predict the outcome. Was it not a big success because it was too disturbing?<\/p>\n Although also filmed mostly in a studio tank, we easily believe we\u2019re in a tiny boat being rocked by choppy ocean swells. The excellent screenplay is uncompromised by moral hedging or theatrical embellishments, and takes an ice-cold attitude to a life-or-death situation that forces a man to make impossible decisions. Writer-director Richard Sale wrote screenplays in a variety of genres, but he also wrote the book from which the bizarre religious fable \u00a0Strange Cargo<\/a> was adapted. He wrote the screenplay for the Presidential assassination thriller \u00a0Suddenly<\/a> and the seagoing thriller \u00a0Torpedo Run<\/a>, which also deals with one man forced to make \u2018unthinkable\u2019 life-and-death decisions.<\/p>\n Abandon Ship resembles those hypothetical \u2018moral dilemmas\u2019 that creative teachers once posed to stimulate discussions about relative \/ situational ethics. Ever remember the scenario about the two islands surrounded by sharks. A man and his wife are separated, and she\u2019s with a bachelor who can try to unite them, but he wants have sex with him first. The woman\u2019s religious convictions prevent her from giving in. The husband demands that she be by his side. We were asked to argue why one character was more ethical than another. It was a trick, of course, as the island dilemma was salted with details that clouded an easy ranking. That \u2018villain\u2019 sometimes came out as being the most honest, for instance.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Possibilities vs. certainties, and ethical considerations vs. hard, cold facts.\u00a0<\/p>\n Abandon Ship\u2019s dilemma isn\u2019t a game, but its cruel circumstances take on the same kind of absurd logic. A dozen frightened passengers argue over what\u2019s fair, when NO solution can be called fair. The debate is cut short by the maritime emergency law that gives sea captains absolute authority. Even with Richard Sale\u2019s exceedingly civilized group of shipwreck survivors, brute force is eventually required. Watching this taut suspense item, every viewer will make up his own mind about its situational ethics.<\/p>\n A passenger ship in the South Atlantic is sunk by a drifting mine. In a few minutes a full 26 survivors are clinging to a single lifeboat. It is so overloaded as to be unseaworthy. Some are gravely injured and several others have problems that make them too weak to help bail water. Captain Darrow (Laurence Naismith) dies, leaving deck officer Alec Holmes (Tyrone Power) in command. Another officer named Bill McKinley (Stephen Boyd) is in good shape, but radioman Jimmy Clary (John Stratton) is so shook up, he can barely sputter out the news that no distress call was sent. One woman has broken ribs and a seaman has burned hands. Another officer, Frank Kelly (Lloyd Nolan) doesn\u2019t immediately bring himself to Holmes\u2019 attention: he knows he\u2019s too badly injured to live, too. The only good news comes when the ship\u2019s nurse Julie White (Mai Zetterling) swims to the boat \u2026 she\u2019s Alec\u2019s sweetheart.<\/p>\n It takes Alec Holmes a while to realize the severity of situation. The good weather will not last long. The dying Captain tells Holmes to save as many as he can. Kelly spells it out even more directly. When they agree that the boat won\u2019t stay afloat with all those survivors hanging on, the injured man says, \u201cYou gotta evict some of the tenants.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The passengers begin to realize what\u2019s up when Holmes begins talking about the need for full obedience to his instructions, as he loads a gun. The \u2018cold equation\u2019 of what they face becomes all too clear when Holmes says that a dog can stay on board \u2026 because they might have to eat it.<\/p>\n The surprise is that Abandon Ship follows through with \u2018the unthinkable.\u2019 \u00a0Holmes eventually does decide to take drastic action to lighten ship. The stress of the situation requires Holmes to play the villain, to be a ruthless tyrant. Or is he asking the impossible of everybody?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The survivors include familiar faces, but none that qualify for survival on the basis of their star status. The writing and acting are excellent \u2014 none of the miserable passengers is typed in any way that presumes superior or inferior moral status. Most are incredibly cooperative and understanding. Good men die taking stands of defiance to Holmes\u2019 course of action \u2026 and we can\u2019t blame them. Incredibly good people, some of them women, accept their fate with a commitment to ideals that now seems impossible.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n No Spoilers here.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s it for describing what happens in Abandon Ship. It\u2019s a hell of a discussion tool. Expect contrasting opinions. In such an extreme situation, can any individual be held responsible for their actions? \u00a0Note: ship\u2019s personnel certainly can. \u00a0*<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n We\u2019re impressed by the way Richard Sale\u2019s \u2018moral dilemma psych test\u2019 gets our heads spinning. Alec Holmes brings order to a chaotic emergency, but we worry about the rightness of the maritime philosophy. Is \u2018the best outcome for the most people\u2019 an absolute rule, or is Stephen Boyd\u2019s \u2018save everybody and hope for the best\u2019 the only moral choice decent people can live with? \u00a0The sea is so cruel, maritime law grants sea captains a lot of leeway over life and death.<\/p>\n The movie is so elemental as to not seem at all dated. Only one moment stood out for me: Alec seems offended to discover that two of the survivors are adulterers. But the dynamic has an interesting effect. The wealthy, attractive woman involved refuses to be shamed, and acts to prove herself worthy.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Our one complaint: \u00a0the survivors are far too reasonable, fair-minded and democratic to be real \u2026 or were people this decent 70 years ago?\u00a0<\/p>\n Mai Zetterling was a big star in Sweden and England, and would become a \u00a0very interesting director<\/a>. The well-known Hollywood star Lloyd Nolan has the film\u2019s strongest dialogue, telling Alec Holmes \u2018that he must kill some to save some.\u2019 \u00a0Stephen Boyd became a big star for a few years. His character\u2019s commitment to \u2018doing the right thing\u2019 is not your average theatrical gesture.<\/p>\n Viewers familiar with a postwar English films, even just Hammer pictures, will appreciate the boat-ful of fine character actors given solid characters to play. Alphabetically \u2026<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Eddie Byrne \u00a0Jack the Ripper<\/a> and \u00a0The Mummy<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n Abandon Ship didn\u2019t play well when syndicated on television, interrupted by commercials. It was difficult to assess in fragmented condition. Seen in one go in this superb presentation, it\u2019s like a gripping book that one can\u2019t put down. It gives the viewer a great deal to think about afterward. Thought to self: \u2018avoid situations where I might end up in a lifeboat.\u2019<\/p>\n The movie gives Tyrone Power a difficult, important role to play. He gives it everything, and the other players are in top form as well. Did Columbia throw the movie away as matinee filler in 1957, or was it just too harsh for average audiences in 1957? \u00a0The level of drama goes way beyond what we expect. In a better world this movie and Columbia\u2019s \u00a0Curse of the Demon<\/a> from the same year would have been recognized as superior entertainments and sold as such.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Sony Pictures Entertainment\u2019s 4K Ultra-HD + Digital of Abandon Ship is in perfect shape in this stunningly clean remaster. The illusion of being on a boat bobbing in the sea is very convincing; the water tank and associated physical effects enhance the smartly composed shots of people jammed on the little boat. The designers and cameraman Wilkie Cooper soon have us forgetting about the presence of a camera \u2026 all the shots cut well and look natural. It\u2019s amazing that the feeling of veracity is kept up for a full 100 minutes.<\/p>\n Sir Arthur Bliss\u2019s music score dips in from time to time, but we remain in a we-are-here first-person reality. Excellent sound effects take over. Some voices appear to be dubbed (Ferdy Mayne, for one) but the mix perspectivizes the audio in a natural way.<\/p>\n Sony\u2019s presentation includes both the domestic (U.S.) and international cuts. The international carries the title Seven Waves Away and ends without an epilogue voiceover. It\u2019s also two minutes longer. The IMDB lists the movie under yet another alternate American title, Seven Days from Now. I have not yet seen that title on any advertising, anywhere.<\/p>\n A big asset for the release is the audio commentary of Jason A. Ney. The educator and \u00a0author<\/a> talks about some of the leading players, but uses most of his time to investigate the movie\u2019s real-life background. Richard Sale had written a short story long before, about a \u00a0notorious 1841 incident<\/a> in which a sailor threw people from an overloaded lifeboat, in an effort to save the others. Abandon Ship was released in the wake of the notoriety of the sinking of the \u00a0Andrea Doria<\/a>, an event mentioned in many reviews. Ney\u2019s best contribution is his analysis of the moral \/ ethical \/ human dilemma at various points in the lifeboat ordeal.<\/p>\n Frankly, the \u2018awful\u2019 ordeal dramatized here plays as idealized. In the original 1841 shipwreck, the sailors in charge of the boat were not in any way \u2018fair\u2019 about who was cast into the freezing water. I\u2019d hate to be on a boat with a contemporary group of survivors \u2026 that might jettison people on the basis of race or presumed politics. The great movie \u00a0A Night to Remember<\/a> depicted infuriating details of lifeboats left half empty, for the comfort of wealthy passengers.<\/p>\n Tyrone Power\u2019s film exploits possibilities in its moral\/ethical dilemma. The wealthy, attractive woman shoots odd side comments at Alec Holmes throughout the picture, but by the end we begin to think that her words \u201cBrave captain\u201d are sincere. Her final words raise an interesting point. If they survive, the passengers\u2019 opinions of Holmes\u2019 actions are not going to be as generous as they were when making it through the storm was in great doubt.<\/p>\n Sony\u2019s terrific 4K release is given generic packaging. The unattractive two-color cover artwork seems to come from a French poster. It appears to be a 4K-only release, with just the one disc and a slip with a code for a digital download. There are a lot more prestigious Columbia classics not yet on 4K, so we can\u2019t wait to find out what gems they might put into the disc pipeline.<\/p>\n Reviewed by Glenn Erickson<\/p>\n Abandon Ship * \u00a0And who can be held strictly accountable for any error or rash act on this imperiled lifeboat? \u00a0Before he finds the boat, Alec Holmes is on a piece of flotasm serving as a raft, with a couple of other survivors. One is played by Finlay Currie, who doesn\u2019t usually take tiny roles. After the finish of Abandon Ship I like to ask people if they even remember the lost people on that raft. What happened to them? \u00a0No human can keep track of everyone in need of help. Visit CineSavant\u2019s Main Column Page<\/a>
4K Ultra-HD + Digital
Sony Pictures Entertainment
1957 \/ B&W \/ 1:66 widescreen \/ 98 + 100 min. \/ Seven Waves Away, Seven Days from Now \/ Street Date August 18, 2026 \/ Available from Moviezyng<\/a> \/ \u00a334.99
Starring: Tyrone Power, Mai Zetterling, Lloyd Nolan, Stephen Boyd, Moira Lister, James Hayter, Marie Lohr, Finlay Currie, John Stratton, Victor Maddern, Eddie Byrne, Noel Willman, Moultrie Kelsall, Robert Harris, Gordon Jackson, Clive Morton, David Langton, Ralph Michael, Orlando Martins, Danny Green, Laurence Naismith, Sheila Manahan, Clare Austin, Jill Melford, Ferdy Mayne, John Gray, David Barry, Austin Trevor, Derek Sydney, Colin Broadley.
Mickey Stokes.
Cinematography: Wilkie Cooper
Production Designer: Wilfrid Shingleton
Art Director: Raymond Sim
Special Effects: Wally Veevers
Film Editor: Raymond Poulton
Composer: Sir Arthur Bliss
Executive Producer: Ted Richmond
Produced by John R. Sloan, Tyrone Power (uncredited)
Written and Directed by Richard Sale<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/6250CSlogoleft0120.png\")
<\/a>Actor Tyrone Power died suddenly in 1958. Returning to Hollywood from the war, he was quoted as saying that he liked only a few of his pictures. He was changed by his war experience enough to demand challenging characterizations, instead of the heroic roles expected of him. He went out of his way to play \u2018dark\u2019 in \u00a0Nightmare Alley<\/a>; it didn\u2019t make money but he kept looking for more dynamic material. He found one in 1957\u2019s Abandon Ship, known as Seven Waves Away in the U.K.. Sony\u2019s surprise 4K UHD release of this library title gives us both versions, plus a commentary by Jason A. Ney.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cinesavant.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/7552f.png\")
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Danny Green \u00a0The 7th Voyage of Sinbad<\/a>, \u00a0The Ladykillers<\/a>.
James Hayter often plays characters much more broadly, like his architect\u2019s sidekick in the epic \u00a0Land of the Pharaohs<\/a>.
Gordon Jackson \u00a0The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie<\/a>.
Moira Lister is a favorite \u2018untrustworthy beauty\u2019 seen to best effect in \u00a0The Cruel Sea<\/a> and \u00a0Pool of London<\/a>.
Marie Lohr is unforgettable \u2026 we know her well from \u00a0Pygmalion<\/a>, \u00a0Went the Day Well?<\/a> and \u00a0A Town Like Alice<\/a>.
Victor Maddern: soldiers and monsters: \u00a0Dunkirk<\/a> (1958), \u00a0Blood of the Vampire<\/a>.
Orlando Martins \u00a0Sapphire<\/a>.
Ferdy Mayne \u00a0Our Man in Havana<\/a>, \u00a0The Fearless Vampire Killers<\/a>.
Jill Melford \u00a0Bunny Lake is Missing<\/a>.
Ralph Michael \u00a0Dead of Night<\/a>, \u00a0The Sound Barrier<\/a>.
Clive Morton \u00a0Kind Hearts and Coronets<\/a>.
John Stratton \u00a0The Cruel Sea<\/a>.
Noel Willman \u00a0Carve Her Name with Pride<\/a>, \u00a0Kiss of the Vampire<\/a>.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cinesavant.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/7552g.png\")
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4K Ultra-HD + Digital rates:
Movie: Excellent
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent
Supplements:
Audio commentary by Jason A. Ney.
Deaf and Hearing-impaired Friendly? YES; Subtitles: English (feature only)
Packaging: One 4K Ultra-HD + Digital in Keep case
Reviewed: July 22, 2026
(7552shio)<\/p>\n![\"CINESAVANT\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/6250twologo0120small.jpg\")
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Glenn Erickson answers most reader mail: cinesavant@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n
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