“Yangtse Incident” is a depiction of an event that occurred in 1949, during the Chinese civil war. A British warship, the Amethyst, was on the Yangtse when it came under fire from Chinese communist batteries on the bank. The ship was taken unawares, running aground on a sandbank. On the whole this film appears to be a reasonably accurate depiction of events. It is also a rather good movie.

The action sequences in this film are really good for the time, and still hold up today. Movies of this time period often used models to depict these sorts of battles, but the battle scenes are shot with real ships, one of which was the original Amethyst. The black and white footage gives an almost documentary-like feel to the movie, adding to its authenticity. Watching gives you a real fear of the attack, making you empathise with the men on the ship (who were not expecting to be in combat, as it was a peaceful mission to deliver supplies.) Much could be said about the state of things between the British government and the Chinese government at the time, and that the British were not as innocent as they claimed. However, that does not detract from the fact that the crew of this ship were not responsible for any wrong-doing and were exactly where they were supposed to be. From the opening attack where they ended up grounded, to the attempted rescue by another British ship (they had to retreat due to coming under heavy fire themselves), to the final night-time escape to the sea, the scenes were done with gritty realism and expert direction by Michael Anderson that leaves you on the edge of your seat.

The film also depicts the stressful boredom of the waiting game the ship had to play with the communist forces. The crew was stranded for three months before they made their escape, and would have had very little to occupy themselves during much of that time. One exchange between two of the seamen illustrates this perfectly – one asks the other if he is scared, and the other responds that he was not scared when they were under attack because he couldn’t think, but when it was quiet, then he was scared.

Richard Todd plays Lieutenant Commander Kerans, the officer who is sent to take command of the Amethyst after the captain dies and the first officer is wounded. Best known for his roles in “Dam Busters” and “The Longest Day”, many of Todd’s films are not very well known, but he had a steady career up until his death in 2009. If you only know him from “Dam Busters”, you might be forgiven for thinking he only had one type of role and always played it, but looking at his wider work would indicate a greater versatility. (Interestingly, Todd took part in the Normandy landings depicted in “The Longest Day”, but when offered the chance to play himself, declined it with horror, opting instead to take another role.) He is a strong lead in this film, playing the whole ‘stiff upper lip’ British officer with great conviction.

William Hartnell has a prominent role in this film as Leading Seaman Frank. (Hartnell is mostly known for his role as the first Doctor in “Doctor Who” in the sixties. He started playing extras and bit parts in the thirties and early forties, before his roles became larger and got him mentioned in the credits.) He played the character I most enjoyed in this movie, a character that is an encouragement to younger sailors through his example and his leadership qualities. Hartnell is charming and likeable in this role, with an especially fun moment where he tries to make a very young child smile by pulling faces at her, pretending to be very serious every time his commanding officer looks at him.

There are some familiar faces among the smaller roles, including Barry Foster (“Frenzy”) and Bernard Cribbins (in his first film role), Keye Luke (“The Green Hornet”, “Kung Fu”), and Robert Urquhart (“The Curse of Frankenstein”, “55 days at Peking”). The cast was a solid one, with only one moment of awkwardness to mar an otherwise good film.

Akim Tamiroff, a Russian actor, was unfortunately cast as Colonel Peng, a Chinese character. While it was not uncommon to have non-Asian actors in ‘yellow-face’ at the time, it is a stereotyped ‘bad guy’ role and makes for uncomfortable viewing today. Given that the film was, on the whole, pleasantly devoid of ‘Rule Brittania’ sentiments and racism, it is a shame that this casting mars an otherwise excellent movie (with no disrespect intended to the actor, who was taking a job he was given and doing his best with it.)

When I started to watch “Yangtse Incident” I was expecting an ordinary movie which would be terribly dated as a result of the jingoism and over the top patriotism typical of war movies of the period. Instead I watched a solid, tense, and surprisingly true-to-life depiction of a historical event, well acted and directed. I would recommend this film to anyone who appreciates historical and/or war movies.