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c***    The Silver Fleet
Picturegoer March 20th, 1943

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[cast list]

Produced with the co-operation of the Royal Netherlands and the British Navies, this simple story of sabotage in The Netherlands is sincere, holding and extremely well acted.

It is not just "another spy story" but balanced dramatic entertainment as well as a striking tribute to the courage of the Dutch.

The picture is dominated by the acting of Ralph Richardson as a Dutch shipbuilder who, posing as a quisling, sabotages submarines in his own yard and dies in so doing.

It is a great performance, natural and completely free from mock heroics.

As his wife who does not know what he is doing until after his death, Googie Withers is very good.

Esmond Knight, completely overcoming the disability of his blindness, scores as the ruthless Gestapo chief.

All the rest of the cast deserves praise and for special mention I would select the juvenile performance given by Willem Akkerman as the shipbuilder's little son. It is natural, unaffected and redolent of boyhood.