Käpt'n China

"Captain China" (1950) made by Lewis R. Foster was to me in a polluted world enough since then an example of a B picture where a character of a navigator inside a cargo fighting a typhoon gave me a lesson of abstract courage. When someone is under physical stress from the elements of nature, independently of social context interacting with them. For this subject this movie spells in me the corridor of maritime freedom, near a coast with traditional hospitality but also with unknown pirates that ruled on sea, but the most dangerous for anybody it was the typhoon and how to survive.

The long scene with the cargo almost submerging by waves, that seemingly swallows it each time is eternal and John Payne was the hero - a captain not Chinese but who likes the sea around China, before and after the revolution of course. This is maybe the reason why the theme of the ship wrecking and his commander under the pressure from a storm tossing it from the bow to the reverse is also a kind of microcosm space where human beings in despair are stressed in their wills, losing fast and easily the control of any small quarrel concerning technicality, like a fish jumping out of the sea falling on the deck...

There is also a kind of nostalgic feature in the middle shot composing the attractive Gail Russell, as campaigner for the look aside the main character, when she puts one of her hands on, both seeing out of the frame in diagonal from right to left in front off something, that menaces them and somewhat puzzling what will be after in such a sound couple. Maybe also breathing a little of pure air from the ship, which is the stage of a fierce misadventure for such love at first sight, nonetheless the healthy conquest in an adventure somewhat artificial inspired in a sequel of Joseph Conrad tale.

John Payne starred in several films for the Pine-Thomas B production unit at Paramount and one of the best of them is Captain China. That's a nickname Payne has received as a play on his real name Chinough and the fact that plys his trade as a freighter captain in the Asian seas.

But he's a beached skipper because he lost one ship after he came on drunk and it piled up on a reef. His first mate Jeffrey Lynn testified against him at a hearing where Payne was presumed lost at sea.

As fates would have it Payne becomes one of a select group of passengers on a ship now commanded by his former mate Lynn. The other passengers include husband and wife missionaries Edgar Bergen and Ilka Gruning, spinster mystery novelist Ellen Corby, and the beautiful Gail Russell heading home. The first three provide comedy relief and Russell is a romantic bone of contention between Payne and Lynn.

There's a lot of Payne's old crew on the freighter that include Robert Armstrong and Lon Chaney, Jr. and John Qualen, the latter two have it in for Payne. When a crisis hits though, it's Payne that comes through.

There's one more interesting role, that of Michael O'Shea as a drunken ship's officer who gets a chance for redemption under Payne's guidance.

Pine-Thomas did a good one here with some most realistic storm scenes, done at night, the better to disguise the fact that it's all done in a studio tank with a model ship. Still the storm sequences are very well done by all the cast.

One of John Payne's better films as he slid into the B picture non-singing roles period of his career.

John Payne stars as the title character, Captain China. A nickname he has grown into because of his experience in sailing the seas of the Orient. The film opens with Payne in disgrace, accused of being too drunk to navigate a safe course and during his stupor he fell overboard. Captain China's version of the story differs quite a bit. He claims he was framed by men who all had a grudge against him.

Captain China's accusers are his first mate and a couple of roguish deck hands. The first mate, played by Jeffrey Lynn, inherits Captain China's old ship when he is relieved of his command. Lynn's first voyage seems to be going smoothly until he learns one of his passengers is Captain China. This makes Lynn and the two deck hands extremely nervous.

I should point out that the viewer at this point isn't exactly sure which story is the truth. Payne is portrayed as a gruff man of action, not exactly an endearing character. But during the film's climax, when a typhoon threatens the ship's safe voyage, Captain China comes through. Lynn panics during the storm and his error almost capsizes the ship. China is asked to take over and he reveals a cool head and an expertise at navigating through a difficult situation.

1949's "Captain China" is above average seagoing fare, with John Payne cementing his reputation as a rough tough sea captain (having already spent 13 years in Hollywood doing more lighthearted roles). Disgraced by the loss of his ship, China becomes a passenger aboard a vessel captained by his former first mate (Jeffrey Lynn), whose false testimony months earlier resulted in China being convicted of drunken negligence. Also on board is Red Lynch (Lon Chaney), the man who locked the unconscious China in the hold, figuring he'd wash up dead on the reef. Both men quickly wind up at each other's throats, the burly, brawling Chaney one of the few actors in Hollywood who could hold his own against the handsome Payne (they later worked together again in 1953's "Raiders of the Seven Seas"). Things slow to a crawl after that, Gail Russell supplying the necessary love interest, until the climactic typhoon, enabling Captain China to prove his worth in the clutch once and for all. John Qualen plays Chaney's confederate, and Edgar Bergen plays a mild mannered passenger gently comforting his nervous wife.

Remember WAKE OF THE RED WITCH, made two years later for Republic Pictures, and starring John Wayne - not Payne - directed by a great adventure film director: Edward Ludwig, and also starring the gorgeous Gail Russel? Here, the director is not Edward Ludwig, but his equivalent: Lewis Foster. The same if you compared for westerns Lesley Selander and Ray Nazarro. But I prefered WAKE OF THE RED WITCH, fairly better than this one, which could be closer to Michael Anderson's WRECK OF THE MARY DEARE. But Gail Russel is worth the watching, her presence justifies the try, plus the amazing action scenes, aboard the ship, during the storm. Not a bad film, especially a rare film from this interesting film maker: Lewis Foster.