San Demetrio London poster

San Demetrio London( 1943)

TV-MAActionDramaWar
67%
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Score

Overview

Based on the true story of the 1940 rescue of the tanker MV San Demetrio by parts of her own crew after she had been set afire in the middle of the Atlantic by the German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer and then had been abandoned. When one of the lifeboats drifted back to the burning tanker the day after, and found that she still hadn't exploded, they decided to board her and put out the fires. Eventually, they managed to start the engine again and decided to try to reach Britain against all odds.

    Top Billed Cast

    1. cast image

      Walter Fitzgerald

      Chief Engineer Charles Pollard - M.V. San Demetrio

    2. cast image

      Ralph Michael

      2nd. Officer Hawkins - M.V. San Demetrio

    3. cast image

      Neville Mapp

      3rd. Engineer Willey - M.V. San Demetrio

    4. cast image

      Barry Letts

      Apprentice John Jones - M.V. San Demetrio

    5. cast image

      Frederick Piper

      Boatswain W.E. Fletcher - M.V. San Demetrio

    6. cast image

      Gordon Jackson

      Messboy John Jamieson - M.V. San Demetrio

    7. cast image

      Robert Beatty

      'Yank' Preston - M.V. San Demetrio

    8. cast image

      Mervyn Johns

      Greaser John Boyle - M.V. San Demetrio

    9. cast image

      James Donald

      Gunnery Officer - H.M.S. Jervis Bay

    10. cast image

      Nigel Clarke

      R.J.E Dodds - Shipping Manager

    11. cast image

      Arthur Young

      Captain George Waite - M.V. San Demetrio

    12. cast image

      Michael Allen

      Cadet Roy Housden - M.V. San Demetrio

    13. cast image

      Herbert Cameron

      Pumpman Davies

    14. cast image

      Charles Victor

      Deckhand

    15. cast image

      James McKechnie

      Deckhand

    16. cast image

      David Horne

      Mr. Justice Langton

    17. cast image

      Duncan McIntyre

      Deckhand

    18. cast image

      John Owers

    19. cast image

      Lawrence O'Madden

    20. cast image

      James Sadler

    Social

    Review 1Discussion

    A review by CinemaSerf

    7
    Written by CinemaSerf on Sat May 10 2025
    Ok, so much of this is clearly filmed in a great big water tank at Ealing studios against a filmed backdrop that all too often gives that game away, but there’s still the essence of a story of tenacity and courage that is well portrayed here as the oil tanker “San Demetrio” finds itself looking the wrong way down the barrel of the 11-inch guns of the Nazi battleship “Scheer”. Badly damaged and left to the elements, the crew are ordered to abandon ship but after roaming around in the violent Atlantic for two days they happen upon their erstwhile home - and it’s still afloat! Lead by their second...

    Media

    Videos 0Backdrops 2Posters 4

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    Facts

    Status

    Released

    Original Language

    English

    Budget

    -

    Revenue

    -

    Keywords

    • based on true story