Imagine watching one of those old educational films you saw in grade school, except it's in Cinerama and it lasts 120 minutes (minus the intermission). This is how I felt watching "Windjammer."
I'm sure if you want to hear the plot, you'll find it in one of the other reviews. Though it's a true story, there is a certain amount of drama and performance as well. Of the fifty or so teenage boys recruited for the ship, we become somewhat familiar with about five to ten of them; these boys have a few scenes in which they converse in English. We also get acquainted with the crew and the mascot (a dog who steals a scene in the film).
But what really makes the movie succeed is that the drama is combined well with what is essentially part travelogue- beautiful cinematic scenes from both land and water- and part musical- really joyful music interspersed throughout. Frankly, it had as much musical motion picture entertainment as "Chicago" in my opinion (it's a compliment, I assure you).
So enjoyable drama, interesting documentary, good music and gorgeous cinematography... what's not to like? Alas, there are two negative comments:
The first is that in it's 50's innocence, it may be difficult at times to watch this film and not chuckle mockingly as a result of the hardened conditioning of today's popular culture and/or long nostalgically for it's time long gone.
The only other problem is that it has not been restored, and the print I saw (part of a Seattle Cinerama fest at one of the few remaining Cinerama theaters) was an original almost 50 years old. Because it's three reels synchronized on the screen, there were moments when the reel from one was noticeably more deteriorated than the others. And that made the illusion hard to manage. Also, "Windjammer," was truly meant to be appreciated in color; though a few scenes had some color in them, for the most part, the deterioration left it in black and white (and pink).
It's a 7/10. Overall, very entertaining but needs to be restored.