In Which We Serve is a 1942 British patriotic war film directed by Noël Coward and David Lean, who made his debut as a director.

[6] The screenplay by Coward was inspired by the exploits of Captain Lord Louis Mountbatten, who was in command of the destroyer HMS Kelly when it was sunk during the Battle of Crete.

In Which We Serve received the full backing of the Ministry of Information,[6] which offered advice on what would make good propaganda and facilitated the release of military personnel.

The film is a classic example of wartime British cinema through its patriotic imagery of national unity and social cohesion within the context of the war.

The first person to reveal his thoughts is Captain Kinross, who recalls the summer of 1939 when the Torrin is being rushed into commission as the possibility of war becomes a near certainty.

Safely back in harbour, Captain Kinross tells the assembled ship's company that during the battle nearly all the crew performed as he would expect, but one man did not.

He tells them that although they lost their ship and many friends, who now "lie together in fifteen hundred fathoms", he notes that these losses should inspire them to fight even harder in the battles to come.

An epilogue concludes: Bigger and stronger ships are being launched to avenge the Torrin; Britain is an island nation with a proud, indefatigable people; Captain Kinross is now in command of a battleship.

Shortly after his 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.

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.

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.

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.

[10][11] 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.

[14] 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.

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.

[16] 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.

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.

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).

[23] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times observed, "There have been other pictures which have vividly and movingly conveyed in terms of human emotion the cruel realities of this present war.