This film addresses the hard lot that ex-servicemen had to face in nigh-on bankrupt post-war Britain; many of them felt of as little use as their now redundant equipment, and some sought excitement and ill-gotten gains by whatever means available.

The Ship in question is a Royal Navy Motor Gun Boat and appears to be (I think) a Fairmile type C. These boats were fast, heavily armed and themselves somewhat vulnerable to attack having little or no armour and containing hundreds of gallons of fuel. They were powered by three large engines and sported between ~2000 and 4000hp depending on the specification.

The idea of using a craft of this sort for smuggling is a bit of a stretch; they use several gallons of fuel per mile and are ruinously expensive to operate, so much so that few of this type survive today. Any smuggling operation using one would have to pay out handsomely just to meet the fuel bills.

Anyway the film is a little darker and has less overt sympathies than many of this period. The cinematography and model work is pretty good and the cast is excellent.

This film is well worth watching, almost a forgotten classic.

The other commentator 'ianlouisiana' has summed this movie up pretty well.

It is a morality play with the little ship representing a metaphor of moral's decline.

A little heavy-handed at times, but it's engaging for all of that. There's a surprisingly good cast list for a story with such potentially limited appeal. Richard Attenborough, George Baker, Bill Owen, Vrginia McKenna and Bernard Lee could make even a turkey presentable.

An interesting cat-and-mouse scenario develops between the three smugglers - Attenborough, Baker & Owen - and the customs officer, played by excellent Bernard Lee. He has a confrontation with them in harbour during which he is arrogantly brushed-off by Attenborough, whom he describes as being 'Lah-de-da'. Later, in a near-catch out in the English channel at night and in fog, he hears their boat hurtling away, and immediately recognises the sound of its powerful engines. From that moment on they are marked men.

Things descend from high spirits to sordid crime and ultimately murder. And their spiral of disgrace is reflected in the declining reliability of their vessel and its final loss.

There's plenty of open-air photography with some excellent shots at sea. White-capped waves and bright sunlight contrast with the darkening human motives and claustrophobic interior.

Available on DVD, and well worth a whizz for all the right reasons. Though it's not a happy ending, even so.