Remembrance Day, November 11…
This is a day that everyone in my family, children, sisters, brothers, in-laws, Aunts, Uncles stop and purposefully spend time remembering all our family, friends of family and complete strangers and reflect upon the sacrifices that they made, both with a and to their lives, to get us to where we are today. May we always be able to follow in their footsteps when the need arises…
We usually also spend time playing the music that they listened to back then ( my dad had a phenomenal collection now lost to me – but hopefully someone in the family still listens to it. ) We also watch selected war movies, documentaries and television shows. Not for the action, but more as an “aide memoire” – so that we can truly appreciate the reality of the sacrifices, challenges and horrors faced by so many…
Which brings me to the title of this posting, Lifeline to Victory. That particular phrase refers to the many many convoys that sailed from North America to England and Russia and eventually Europe, bringing much needed war supplies and more importantly survival for those millions trapped within those theatres of war. It was also used as a title for a Canadian Televison Movie that focused on the thin line of Corvettes ( small fighting ships ) that were sent to escort them, protect them and hopefully get them to where they were going.
Our family was lucky enough to have recorded the movie on our VCR and we watched it faithfully for years and during that time always looked for it on DVD ( especially once our VCR and tapes started to die. )
It’s an amazing movie that portrays the struggles of many a Corvette commander, from inexperience to going to sea without being fully equipped ( such as carrying a wooden structure that resembled a gun because there were currently none left to outfit it with ) and the disdain with which the Canadians were treated by the British Navy. It was brilliantly filmed, edited and portrayed – Michael Riley did a phenomenal job portraying the ships commander Paul Devereaux.
This is truly a Canadian Icon that should be broadcast every year on Canadian TV – a Canadian experience for Canadians – except it isn’t. It isn’t even available for purchase – which is truly sad and frustrating for everyone in my family.
As I recall it was a Global TV co-production and while there are all sorts of sites which claim to have it available for viewing, downloading and even purchasing…. none really do. Why they don’t boggles my mind.
So now I’m putting this out to the Universe and the Net… does anyone know where I can purchase a real copy in digital format? I would love to buy it if it was available!
Here are some background links for those of you who may not have heard of this lost gem…
From TV Archive Canada – www.tvarchive.ca/database/17561/lifeline_to_victory/details/
From everyones favourite site IMDB – www.imdb.com/title/tt0107414/
A discussion forum on Corvettes – theflowerclasscorvetteforums.yuku.com/topic/716/Lifeline-to-victory
There are really a LOT of people who would love to have a copy of this movie, hopefully someone out there either has an excellent digital copy of it for sale or to share… anyone?
I have also searched for “Lifeline to Victory”, like you I recorded it at the
time on VHS, which, alas, has died. I did make a copy of it to DVD, but the
old tape was then a bit patchy. I did see a VHS copy on ebay, but the price
was over £40 sterling, so I searched around for another copy, no luck.
My email is *********@virgin.net , if you send me an email I will let you
know if I find a copy, perhaps you would let me know if you find one.
Regards, James
Hey James!
Thanks for the comments and the promise. I’ll do the same. Yeah my “DVD” copy is from a second broadcast that was stomped on by commercials and recorded on Beta then to VHS…. so it’s really in rough shape alas for sure.
We just finished watching a series on AppleTV called “Convoy – War of the Atlantic” which was quite good – doesn’t replace Lifeline to Victory but it gives a great historical review of just what went on during the whole war and the challenges faced by both sides – you might be able to find it elsewhere if you don’t have an iTunes or Apple TV account.
I’ve also taken the liberty of hiding the email in your message so that Spambots (they’re out there) don’t take your email and inundate you.
Thanks again!
Rick
I, too, would like a copy of this film as I was cast as an extra in it – makes it that much more special. If you do find out where a copy can be purchased, please share the info. Many thanks!
Hey Janet, awesome that you were an extra. Not too many ladies in that movie as I recall… I think if I was an extra in any movie, I’d love to have a personal copy as well! Not to worry, if ever I do find a commercial source I WILL be posting it here and will make a point of letting you know as well.
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