A gripping, documentary re-enactment of the unromantic adventures of cargo-ship crewmen making their way across the torpedo ridden Atlantic during World War II. “Western Approaches (released in the U.S. under the more promising title of The Raider) is the wartime documentary, in Technicolor, that took director Pat Jackson from short documentaries to a feature-length one--and launched a career that seemed extremely promising. Unfortunately the next twenty years produced only twelve features, one of them in Hollywood, and apart from White Corridors, shown here last year, none of the films really gave him an honest crack at showing what he could do. His was one of the most sadly wasted talents in British film history. While its subject matter is familiar today, Western Approaches is still a rousing, exciting and very likeable film.” William K. Everson