''Floodtide'' is a 1949 British

romantic drama Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their ...

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

directed by Frederick Wilson and starring Gordon Jackson,

Rona Anderson Rona Anderson (3 August 1926 – 23 July 2013) was a Scottish stage, film, and television actress. She appeared in TV series and on the stage and films throughout the 1950s. She appeared in the films ''Scrooge (1951 film), Scrooge'' and ''The Pr ...

John Laurie John Paton Laurie (25 March 1897 – 23 June 1980) was a Scottish stage, film, and television actor. He appeared in scores of feature films with directors including Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean, Michael Powell and Laurence Olivier, generally p ...

and

Jimmy Logan James Allan Short, Officer of the Order of the British Empire, OBE, RSAMD, FRSAMD (4 April 1928 – 13 April 2001), known professionally as Jimmy Logan, was a Scotland, Scottish performer, theatrical producer, impresario and Theatre director, ...

. The film was one of the four of David Rawnsley's films that used his "independent frame" technique, a form of

back projection Rear projection (background projection, process photography, etc.) is one of many in-camera effects cinematic techniques in film production for combining foreground performances with pre-filmed backgrounds. It was widely used for many years in ...

Plot

A young

Scotsman Scottish people or Scots (; ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded the Kingdom of Scotland (o ...

becomes a ship designer instead of following the family tradition and entering farming. He works his way up the firm, marries the boss's daughter, and revolutionises shipbuilding.

Cast

* Gordon Jackson as David Shields *

as Mary Anstruther *

as Joe Drummond * Jack Lambert as Anstruther *

as Tim Brogan *

Janet Brown Janet McLuckie Brown (14 December 192327 May 2011) was a Scottish actress, comedian and impressionist who gained considerable fame in the 1970s and 1980s for her impersonations of Margaret Thatcher. Brown was the wife of Peter Butterworth, who ...

as Rosie *

Elizabeth Sellars Elizabeth Macdonald Sellars (6 May 1921 – 30 December 2019) was a Scottish actress. Early life and education Sellars was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the daughter of Stephen Sellars and Jean Sutherland. She appeared on the stage from the age o ...

as Judy * Gordon McLeod as Pursey * Ian McLean as Sir John * Archie Duncan as Charlie Campbell * James Woodburn as John Shields *

Molly Weir Mary Weir (17 March 1910 – 28 November 2004), known as Molly Weir, was a Scottish actress. She appeared as the character Hazel the McWitch in the BBC TV series '' Rentaghost''. She was the sister of naturalist and broadcaster Tom Weir. Biog ...

as Mrs. McTavish * Ian Wallace as 1st director * Alexander Archdale as 2nd director * Grace Gavin as Mrs. McCrae

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' wrote: "The Clydebank shipyards make an effective setting for a story which, though conventional and often absurd, at least is unpretentiously told. Thanks to capable direction and camerawork the Glasgow background is convincing, though the same can hardly be said of such details as the design for the model ship. Gordon Jackson gives a sincere performance as David Shields, with Rona Anderson as Mary. Jimmy Logan and Elizabeth Sellars in supporting parts provide the two most successful characterisations." The ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'' wrote, "the grim grandeur of the Clyde shipyards provides the setting for this lacklustre melodrama which trades on the British docudramatic tradition while dealing in potboiling clichés". The ''

Oxford Times ''The Oxford Times'' is a weekly newspaper, published each Thursday in Oxford, England. The paper is published from a large production facility at Osney Mead, west Oxford, and is owned by Newsquest, the UK subsidiary of US-based Gannett Compan ...

'' wrote, "this is a classic town-and-country saga that is spiritedly played by an exceptional Scottish ensemble."

References

External links

*
Review of film
at ''Variety''
Review of film
at ''Eye for Film'' 1949 films 1949 romantic drama films Films shot at Pinewood Studios British romantic drama films British black-and-white films 1940s English-language films 1940s British films English-language romantic drama films {{romantic-drama-film-stub