The Ghost Ship.

Review #2587: The Ghost Ship.

Cast: 

Richard Dix (Captain Will Stone), Russell Wade (Third Officer Tom Merriam), Edith Barrett (Ellen Roberts), Ben Bard (First Officer Bounds), Skelton Knaggs (Finn, the mute / The Narrator), Edmund Glover (Jacob "Sparks" Winslow), Lawrence Tierney (Louie Parker), Paul Marion (Pete a.k.a. "the Greek"), and Sir Lancelot (Billy Radd) Directed by Mark Robson (#1797 - Home of the Brave, #1931 - Valley of the Dolls, #2431 - The Seventh Victim)

Review:  

Now you might be saying, what, a ship-bound movie to look on for horror? Well, this is another one of Val Lewton's productions for RKO and it often is lumped in with his previous stuff such as Cat People (to the point where it was released alongside the others for the "Val Lewton Horror Collection" set in 2005), so why not? RKO wanted a use from the ship set they still had from Pacific Liner [1939], so obviously giving Lewton a task to make a ship-bound movie with a "Ghost" in the title sounded up his alley. It may interest you to know that for many years, this film was not available to actually see. Sure, the screenplay was credited to Donald Henderson Clarke and the story was credited to Leo Mittler, but Lewton had his key influence in shaping the film (so, uncredited work) ...and then the aftermath of the release of the film saw a lawsuit filed by Samuel R. Golding and Norbert Faulkner. Go figure, RKO somehow lost a suit for plagiarism (specifically citing the 1942 play "A Man and His Shadow") that saw the film taken out from circulation (not to be mean to Golding or Faulkner*, but nobody speaks for them and the alleged "plagiarism" case, so either the viewer is the true winner or Lewton that got the last laugh in the long run). Robson wound up directing three more movies for Lewton with Youth Runs Wild (1944), Isle of the Dead (1944), and Bedlam (1946). At any rate, since the movie fell into the public domain, it is now readily available to view anywhere you want on the Internet.

Sure, it's hard to try and go into the movie without some sort of expectation or guess when it comes to "Ghost Ship", but you really will have quite the time just going into it cold, with its 69-minute runtime not being a deterrent to how fascinating it ends up being. The horrors of being gripped at the helm of authority and wavering in actually recognizing the difference between power and authority is one thing, try being part of a ship filled with deterrence to what "seems best with the man in charge". There could be storms on the horizon, there could be danger from an unknown enemy, but damn the torpedoes, one rolls with the captain when they have made their final decision...or so one may believe. We all know at least one situation where people would probably go down with the ship (in a figurative sense) rather than ask any questions about just who is really trying to guide past the storm. We all know that one person who micromanages things with perhaps a bit too much enthusiasm, as if everything has to be drawn up and down just because they can. You can in fact be petty when it comes to holding the crew to a "standard" and you can in fact try to bury things if it comes to a head. The responsibility of holding the command and all the responsibilities and calamities that come in both body and mind goes to Dix (in one of his last roles prior to dying in 1949), who makes for a compelling presence specifically because of his seasoned nature. It may not be a big A-movie, but his imbalanced feel for the crew and what his role is in the grand scheme of his position is compelling without striking as too cartoonish, especially when shown in the non-sea trappings with Barrett in one instance. Wade had done several years of playing an extra before getting an RKO contract to be a featured guy for stuff such as this, although he would stop acting after 1948. He makes for a suitable lead to jump in to said quibbles with solid likable qualities to sell the perspective of a newcomer into a bubbling boil. The racket with Knaggs, who has a few monologues as basically a "Greek chorus" that only works best in the last sequence, honestly, and the crew (which includes a young Tierney and calypso singer Sir Lancelot) only get to show flashes of individuality (as if they've just become cogs to change in and out). By the time of its climax, as held in murky lighting to heighten the tension, all the stops have been put out in pulpy and lean enjoyment that makes it a solid Lewton (and company) accomplishment.  Melodrama, suspense thriller, horror, hey, it all can be relative in what you can infer from your own perspectives, at least when you consider the dangers that come from what is seen and unseen in the careful lighting (hooks, fights, lockless doors, what have you). In that sense, it makes for a pretty good recommendation for any type of month or occasion.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Song of the day!

*Oh who am I kidding, those jerks did lose in the court of "time". Really, plagiarism?

Souls for Sale.

Review #1995: Souls for Sale.

Cast: 

Eleanor Boardman (Remember "Mem" Steddon), Lew Cody (Owen Scudder), Richard Dix (Frank Claymore), Mae Busch (Robina Teele), Frank Mayo (Tom Holby), Barbara La Marr (Leva Lamaire), Arthur Hoyt (Jimmy Leland), David Imboden (Caxton), Roy Atwell (Arthur Tirrey), Forrest Robinson (Rev. John Steddon), Edith Yorke (Mrs. Steddon), William Orlamond (Lord Fryingham), Aileen Pringle (Lady Jane), and Snitz Edwards (Komical Kale, the Klown) Written and Directed by Rupert Hughes.

Review: 

Well, there's always room for movies about Hollywood. The movie is adapted from the novel of the same name, which was written by none other than Rupert Hughes. Born in Lancaster, Missouri, he studied at both Case Western Reserve University and Yale University and graduated from each with degrees before the turn of the 20th century. Eschewing the idea of teaching, he decided to become a writer, turning his attention to novels alongside reporting on occasion. He entered film in the 1910s as a writer with films such as The Deaf Mute (1913). His first film as a director was The Wall Flower (1922). In total, he was a director-writer on seven films from 1922 to 1924, although he continued to dabble in screenwriting, which included him introducing his nephew Howard (yes, that Hughes) to the film industry; Hughes died in 1956 at the age of 84. Boardman was actually in her first starring role here. She had dabbled in the stage, but when she lost her voice, she assumed it was dwindling down. Hearing about a contest for "New Faces" by the Goldwyn studio, she entered it and became one of two winners (the other was William Haines) among hundreds of entrants. Paul Bern, a director/writer of what became Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, helped her with the screentest, turning a disastrous first take into one that got her a contract (incidentally, Haines appears in a small role in this film). She made her debut with The Strangers' Banquet (1922) and did supporting roles with two further films before appearing as star with this film, which ironically is a role about an aspiring actress trying to make it in Hollywood; she retreated from acting after 1935, having had highlights in films such as The Crowd (1928). The film was thought lost for many years until it surfaced in vaults in the late 1980s before it was restored in 2006.

As a whole, the movie is light fun in melodrama and mythmaking. It varies wildly in what genre it wants to be, mostly because it can't settle between the perils of Hollywood on a youth or an oddball serial killer that likes young brides. It doesn't exactly gel well with each other, with only the offbeat title cards (interestingly, "simp" is used here about trying to sell oneself to a person when it comes to trying to act) coming in second in making an odd tone. It is generally involving at 90 minutes though, mostly because one can't help but wonder what little surprise cameo you could see coming, whether that involves Charlie Chaplin at work or whatever. I find it more interesting when it tries to play perspective in what it means to try and be an actor in a grueling industry and the emotions that come with it rather than, well, the moralizing that happens with those title cards. My favorites: an oddball that says when an actor gets into trouble, "they blame the screen" or movie folk that are "factory hard" when rising and leaving early and late. Bottom line, the movie thinks to try and put the stars on a pedestal too highly, especially considering that Hollywood actors like Roscoe Arbuckle had just gone through two trials (with a third happening in the very month this film was released) for manslaughter. In other words: actors may have interesting lives and troubles, but you really can't expect me to believe they have a hard factory life like this. Anyway, the movie itself is just fine, because Boardman does fine with the material, malleable in drama and plucky ambition (despite probably having the corniest name seen in a silent lead character in quite some time). Dix and Mayo try to make this a love triangle, but honestly, I forget sometimes which is which, so go figure that the director is the one who gets the girl over the actor. Interestingly, this was one of Dix's first roles as a film actor. Cody evidently was known for "male vamp roles", so this makes an interesting adversary, even if it tries to play it both ways a bit with the ending (you can do creeping or you can do sympathetic, don't try both). Really, it is the light relief provided by people such as Busch (a future associate of the Laurel and Hardy films) or with La Marr (a vamp icon until her premature death) or with Edwards and his usual presence. As a whole, I wanted to like the film more than I did when it comes to films that have not had the pleasure of being discovered as long as other silent films, but it mostly is just okay. As a weird and odd mess that tries to play melodrama and Hollywood sunshine, it comes off as a strange amusement that can work if one is in the mood for certain expectations.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Five to go.