Until They Sail (1957)

Dreadfully Boring

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

I am currently watching this movie on television. I am a native of Christchurch, New Zealand, where this movie was made in 1957.I am afraid to say that,despite any positive attributes this film may have, it is completely spoilt for me by the total absence of any detectable NZ accent spoken by the lead characters so far.The accents seem to swing from Jean Simmonds "cut glass" English tones, to the other obvious American accents of the principals, supposedly playing NZ girls.There has been one attempt at our accent so far, by a man, which ended up sounding broad Cockney.I appreciate that back when this film was made,credible New Zealand born actors were in much shorter supply than nowadays, but these voices playing Kiwis must have been as grating to NZers watching then, as they are now.Jean Simmonds speaks the way the Queen does...nothing like a New Zealander!Voice coaches must surely have been in existence back then? We don't talk in English or American accents, and didn't then either.Sloppy work..."if a jobs worth doing, its worth doing well."

James A. Michener's WWII tale of four sisters in a seaside New Zealand home who experience the highs and lows of love. With nearly all the men in their town off fighting in the war, the gals are at first apprehensive, but finally grateful when the streets fill up with American Yanks on leave. Joan Fontaine, as the eldest of the clan, falls for handsome soldier Charles Drake from Oklahoma (and has his child out of wedlock!), while Jean Simmons manages to get close to cynical, hard-drinking Paul Newman. Piper Laurie, as sort of the beautiful black sheep of the family, tires quickly of her sudden marriage and heads off to nearby Wellington to play the field. Sandra Dee, in her film debut, is very cute as a dimply, growing 15-year-old with a passion for boys. Attractive M-G-M production surprises in its openness of sexual matters, yet the flashback framework was unnecessary, as were the stock-shots of battleships on the horizon (making it seem as if the girls live on their own private island). Though each actor gets equal screen-time, Laurie nearly steals the picture with a finely-etched portrayal of a young woman desperately trying to find herself--and feeling the strangulation of family ties (she's also extraordinarily lovely here). Not up to the classics of the wartime movie genre, but certainly not bad. **1/2 from ****

This film was written by famous writer James Michener and also a very famous director Robert Wise along with a great cast of actors who made this into a great 1957 Classic to view and enjoy. The story revolves around sister's who live in New Zealand during the war and most of the men have gone into the service of their country and left a small town without any men and strictly women. As the war continues, these women seek men and when the United States troops arrive in New Zealand many women want to get married, some have babies out of wedlock and the war upsets the morals of all men and women in this small town. Jean Simmons, (Barbara Leslie Forbes); Joan Fontaine Anne Leslie and Sandra Dee, (Evelyn Leslie) are all sisters, some married and some simply living with one man after another. Sanda Dee plays the role of the baby sister in her teens who also begins to fall in love. Paul Newman, (Capt. Richard Bates) has a great interest in Barbara Leslie after her husband is killed, but he will not commit himself to her and is really afraid to start a relationship because he has to fight in the Pacific against the Japanese Government. This is a very emotional film and shows the horrors of war and the suffering it causes men and women. Enjoy.

For a "woman's picture," "Until They Sail" is surprisingly effective. The acting is generally first-rate, but Piper Laurie is a stand-out. This was possibly the first time she was able to overcome that silly flower-eating publicity gimmick that Universal foisted on her and then proceeded to condemn her to swashbucklers and other junk while she was under contract to them. It's too bad that she couldn't have started with a studio that would have known what to do with her and was interested in filming more than mindless fluff. Jean Simmons was also great in a somewhat rare opportunity at a role with some depth--anyone remember most of the dreck she miraculously survived in her RKO period?Even Joan Fontaine was less arch than she usually was in her later films (even the shark was better in "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea").