The Other Film About Shipwreck Survivors

There are many tv channels available to the discerning media consumer. Aside from the major television networks, there is a panoply of niche cable offerings for one to fritter away lonely hours with. For me, perhaps the foremost TV succubus is Turner Classic Movies. At virtually any hour of the day or night, you will find them broadcasting a film which entirely lives up to their name (not the 'Turner' part, but the other two parts). Just the other day, I was watching a movie that blew me away.


For a long, long time I've been a fan of Hitchcock's "Lifeboat". It's a very potent consideration of what becomes of people in such dire circumstances as being stranded in the mid-Atlantic during World War Two. The Master of Suspense imbued the film with no small amount of his stock in trade. Having seen and loved that movie, however, I found room in my heart for another entry in that micro sub-genre in "Abandon Ship!" (also known as "Seven Waves Away").

I don't subscribe to the school of thought which holds that revealing the whole plot is the best form of review, but I'll say a little. It works within the same framework, more or less, but offers a different take on it. The star is Tyrone Power, and his characterization looms large in one's recollection of the film; more enduring still is the nature of the film's dramatic conflict. Were the film to come out today and find an audience, that audience would be debating the events of the story for no short amount of time.

The film does not seem to be available on DVD (much less vaunted Blu-Ray), but is available on archaic VHS and could possibly be shown again on TCM. If the opportunity presents itself, I suggest that you sit down and watch one gem of an overlooked film.