Editing In Which We Serve (section)

==Production==
Shortly after his play ''[[Blithe Spirit (play)|Blithe Spirit]]'' opened in the West End in July 1941, Noël Coward was approached by [[Anthony Havelock-Allan]], who was working with the production company [[Two Cities Films]]. Its founder, [[Filippo Del Giudice]], was interested in making a propaganda film and wanted someone well-known to write the screenplay.

===Screenplay development===
Coward agreed to work on the project as long as the subject was the [[Royal Navy]], and he was given complete control.<ref>[[#Hoare|Hoare]], p. 322</ref>

As the sinking of {{HMS|Kelly}} on 23 May 1941 was still on Coward's mind, he decided to use the ship's demise as the basis for his script. Mountbatten, aware that there was some public antipathy to his political ambitions, agreed to support the project as long as it was not a conspicuous biography of his own experiences. In order to do research, Coward visited the [[HMNB Devonport|naval base]] in [[Plymouth]], where [[Michael Redgrave]], with whom he was in a relationship at the time, was stationed. He also visited [[Portsmouth]] and the [[Home Fleet]] at [[Scapa Flow]], where he sailed on {{HMS|Nigeria|60|6}}.<ref>[[#Hoare|Hoare]], pp. 323–24</ref>

Coward spent the final months of 1941 drafting a screenplay. However, when he submitted it to Havelock-Allan, the producer told him the film would run between eight and nine hours if it was made as written because it included lengthy scenes in [[Paris]], [[China]], and the [[West Indies]]. Havelock-Allan told Coward he needed to trim the plot down to the basics by eliminating everything that was not related to the ''Torrin'' or its crew. Heeding the advice, Coward started his story with the laying of the ship's keel in 1939 and concluded it soon after it sank off the coast of Crete.<ref>[[#Hoare|Hoare]], pp. 324–25</ref> For the speech at the end of the film, when Capt. Kinross addresses the survivors from the ''Torrin'' in Alexandria, Coward used the real speech that Mountbatten gave to the surviving crew of HMS ''Kelly'' after they were rescued and taken to Egypt.<ref name="Mountbatten"/><ref>{{cite book|title=The Book of Military Quotations|first=Peter G.|last=Tsouras|publisher=Zenith Imprint|year=2005|isbn=0-7603-2340-2|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=BDgnD0omDo0C&q=kelly+survivors+there+isn%27t+one+of+you+mountbatten&pg=PA89 81]}}</ref>

===Pre-production roles===
Coward was determined to portray Captain Kinross in the film despite the studio's concern that his public "dressing gown and cigarette-holder" persona might make it difficult for audiences to accept him in the role of a tough navy man. Havelock-Allan supported him, although he later called his performance "always interesting, if not quite convincing." Coward also needed to convince the censors that the sinking of the ship was a crucial scene and not the threat to public morale they perceived it to be.<ref>[[#Hoare|Hoare]], pp. 325–26</ref>

Coward had experience directing plays, but he was a novice when it came to films, and he knew he needed to surround himself with professionals if the project was to succeed. He had seen and admired [[Ronald Neame]]'s work and he hired him as [[cinematography|cinematographer]] and chief [[lighting technician]].<ref name="Hoare, p. 323">[[#Hoare|Hoare]], p. 323</ref> The Italian film director [[Filippo Del Giudice]] was released from his internment as an enemy alien to work on the film at Coward's insistence. MI5 supplied [[Ann Elwell]] as his secretary. She was translating for him as he took on the role of art director and she also did some scriptwriting.<ref name="odnb">{{Cite ODNB|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-60758|title=Elwell [née Glass], Ann Catherine (1922–1996), intelligence officer and diplomat {{!}} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|year=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/60758|access-date=2019-03-04}}</ref> Coward could handle the direction of the actors but would be at a loss with the action scenes, so he asked [[David Lean]] to supervise the filming of those. ''In Which We Serve'' proved to be the first of several films on which the two would collaborate.<ref name="Hoare, p. 323"/>

===Filming===
Shooting began at [[Denham Studios]] on 5 February 1942. From the start, Coward was happy to let production crew members take charge in their areas of expertise while he concentrated on directing the actors and creating his own portrayal of Kinross. However, he soon became bored with the mechanics of filmmaking and after six weeks he came to the studio only when scenes in which he appeared were being filmed.<ref name=h326>[[#Hoare|Hoare]], p.&nbsp;326–31</ref> At one point, he invited the royal family to the set and [[newsreel]] footage of their visit proved to be good publicity for the film.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/PFy_Q-Sg5wY Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20160324145217/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFy_Q-Sg5wY Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFy_Q-Sg5wY|title=Royal Family at Denham Studios (NO SOUND) |date=21 July 2015 |publisher=[[Movietone News|British Movietone News]]|access-date=30 July 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

During the filming, the character of Albert Fosdike, "Shorty" Blake's brother-in-law, was recast after actor [[William Hartnell]] turned up late for his first day of shooting. Coward berated Hartnell in front of cast and crew for his unprofessionalism. He then made him personally apologise to everyone before sacking him. [[Michael Anderson (director)|Michael Anderson]], the film's [[First Assistant Director|first-assistant director]], took over the part (credited as "Mickey Anderson").<ref>{{cite book |last=Hoare |first=Philip |title=Noël Coward: A Biography |url=https://archive.org/details/nolcowardbiogr00hoar |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-684-80937-3 |ref=Hoare}}Page unspecified.</ref>

Coward was anxious that it succeed, not only because it was his first film project, but because he felt it was his contribution to the war effort and he wanted it to be perceived as such by the public. The première was a gala event held as a benefit for several naval charities and Coward was pleased to see a large presence of military personnel.<ref name=h326/>

Richard Attenborough appeared as a sailor deserting his post under fire. His name and character were omitted from the original release-print credits but were subsequently added.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/obituaries--archive/obituaries/obituary-richard-attenborough | title=Obituary: Richard Attenborough }}</ref>

===Locations===
Interiors were filmed at [[Denham Studios]], in [[Denham, Buckinghamshire|Denham]], [[Buckinghamshire]]. 
The destroyer {{HMAS|Nepal|G25|6}} played HMS ''Torrin''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Cassells |first=Vic |title=The Destroyers: their battles and their badges |year=2000 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=East Roseville, NSW |isbn=0-7318-0893-2 |oclc=46829686 |page=60}}</ref> The Kinross family picnic scene, set during the [[Battle of Britain]] in 1940, was filmed on location on the [[Dunstable Downs]] in [[Bedfordshire]].

Although the filmmakers took great care to conceal locations because of wartime censorship, scenes were shot at [[Plymouth]]'s [[HMNB Devonport|naval dockyard]] in Devon and the naval station on the [[Isle of Portland]]. For example, the departure of Blake and Hardy was filmed in front of Devonport's original main entrance, the Keyham Dock Gate. <!-- It's quite obvious from watching the scene that the location is real (https://www.francisfrith.com/devonport/devonport-keyham-dock-gate-1890_22451) but a painted screen has been erected through the gate – probably a requirement of wartime censorship (although there is some debate as to whether this was an interior studio shot)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reelstreets.com/films/in-which-we-serve/|title=In Which We Serve|website=reelstreets.com|access-date=4 October 2019}}</ref>  -->[[Smeaton's Tower]] on the seafront at [[Plymouth Hoe]] was used for the shore-leave scenes between Shorty Blake (Mills) and his wife Freda ([[Kay Walsh]]).