Introduction
I am ploughing through the David Lean collection I have mentioned many times before - this is the first collaboration between Noel Coward and David Lean - and the success, no doubt, determined the future. Based on the destroyer HMS Kelly, In Which We Serve is a British Propaganda film detailing the exploits of HMS 'Torrin' led by Captain Kinross - played with all the British-delivery-of-dialogue that could be offered by Noel Coward himself. Coward, additionally, composed the music. He was already a very strong figure in the theatre scene - having only recently released Blithe Spirit on the West End.
The Story in Reverse
Akin to many modern period films, In Which We Serve utilised the advatage of non-linear story-telling, something that would be hard to produce on stage. The beginning sets us amongst the Navy on boar5d the HMS 'Torrin' as it begins attacking another ship - the ship send bombs and torpedoes and, shortly into the the sequence, Noel Coward is ordering everyone to abandon ship. As the remaining few sailors hold onto a
