Title:PASSAGE TO FREEDOM : a tribute to the Norwegian merchant navy [Main Title]
Film Number:CVN 224
Other titles:
Summary: Using reconstruction (where possible by the actual characters involved) the film shows how the Norwegian merchant fleet - fourth largest in the world - was preserved by the Government in Exile as an instrument in the Allied cause and pays tribute to the ships of that fleet "the free soil of a democracy, fighting in exile".
Description: Film opens with shots of ships in convoy (US railway engines as deck cargo), and unloading in docks; a sailor comes ashore, and commentary points out he has no home to go to. 'Flashback' to 1940, and German invasion: ships crews receive news; Germans put out false instructions in effort to secure the ships; the Norwegian Government, retreating North, contacts RN Headquarters to hand over Norway's gold and shipping to British care; a Shipping and Trade Mission is set up in London to take control of ships... Film closes with more docks and convoy scenes, while commentary (including quotes of Anthony Eden) acknowledges value of Norwegian shipping, saying that when sailors eventually return home from an absence longer than usual, they will take back a gift more valuable than usual - Freedom.
Production Details: Strand (Production company)
Moffat, Ivan (Production individual)
Taylor, Donald19111966British film producer and director. (Production individual)
Havinden, John (Production individual)
Gay, Pat (Production individual)
Anscombe, Ronald (Production individual)
Douglas, (Richard) Roy (Production individual)
Dyall, Valentine (Production cast)
Personalities, Units and Organisations: Royal Navy (regiment/service)
Norwegian Merchant Navy (regiment/service)
