Review – The Pursuit of the Graf Spee

The title card on the print that ran on TCM identified this as “The Battle of the River Plate,” but it’s the same moment in history no matter what name it goes by. And wow is it ever boring. The picture is loosely divided into three acts: interaction between the captain of the Graf Spee (a very young Peter Finch) and the captain of a British vessel sunk by the German ship, the sea battle that damaged the Graf Spee and the ship’s fiery demise in the harbor at Montevideo. Oddly enough, the second part is the dullest of all. It includes extensive footage of guys standing around on the bridges of the English warships waiting for their enemy to turn up. While I’m sure this is a reasonably accurate representation of the long stretches between engagements in war at sea, it didn’t make for especially compelling cinema. However, the ships were interesting to look at for anyone who’s into ships. The opening credits even listed the actual names of the vessels playing the ships in the movie. Mildly amusing