Höllenfahrt

Andrew and Virginia Stone, the husband and wife creative team who conceived and made the film The Last Voyage had the good fortune to use a real ocean liner in their film. No miniatures for their special effects which got The Last Voyage its only recognition from the Academy.

That harbinger of bad luck named Murphy must have been on the passenger roster of the S.S. Claridon which was captained by George Sanders because the law he espoused was operating full tilt on this trans-Pacific voyage. It all starts with fire in the boiler room which leads to a series of bad luck and bad decisions.

The story of the doomed ship Claridon proceeds on a double track. There is the story of the ship sinking itself and particularly the clash with Captain Sanders and Engineer Edmond O'Brien. The second is the personal story of Robert Stack who with wife Dorothy Malone and their little girl Tammy Marihugh are traveling to Tokyo for Stack's job. When an explosion occurs both Malone and the little girl are trapped in the cabin. With all that's going on around Stack finds precious little help for his family's personal plight.

The Last Voyage is a tightly paced drama which does not waste a second of film frame in the telling of its story. Best in the film I think is Malone who is just brilliant as the woman coming to grips with an impending doom. Honorable mention should also go to Woody Strode who plays a ship's stoker who renders needed assistance to Stack in his hour of trial.

The Last Voyage was nominated for Best Special Effects, but lost to the only other film nominated that year, George Pal's The Time Machine. I'd hated to have been an Academy voter that year and have to make that choice.

Five years earlier the Andrea Doria disaster had happened only minutes from New York harbor. The stories from that sea disaster were fresh in the public mind, let alone the story of the Titanic.

Fifty years after it was released The Last Voyage holds up well and even the technology changes haven't dated this film one bit. This one is highly recommended.

When I was small I saw a movie on TV with my grandfather that scared the BEJEEPERS out of me: its images of a woman imprisoned by steel beams on an exploding, sinking ship have haunted me all these years. I was watching TCM today and when I saw the opening sequences of "The Last Voyage" I recognised it straight away as the movie with the poor lady trapped in the wrecked liner. As an adult I found the movie suspenseful: no wonder it terrified me as a kid. Dorothy Malone's performance masterly captures the wife's desperation, panic, and concern that her child and husband survive. Robert Stack makes the viewer feel the loyalty and drive that makes the husband battle to save his wife against the odds. It was great to see a movie from my early childhood present a black character who is every inch a hero as the leading character, who fights to rescue the wife as much as her husband does. The characters of the captain and the British main officer are finely drawn and the struggles of the officer to preserve the ship and take care of the passengers while the captain fails to grasp the seriousness of the situation make an effective counterpart to the husband's attempts to free his wife and daughter from the wreckage of their cabin. The overhead shots of the daughter perched on the edges of a hole ripped through several decks of the ship are horrifying and I'm sure they are responsible for my still being scared of heights. This movie's style is matter of fact, complete with a historical-sounding narration, but this increases the impact of the terror of the wife and the growing desperation and frustration of the husband as he races to find someone who will help them. The engineer's outburst at the captain reflects the growing tension that the film creates. This is not just another hokey disaster film in Technicolor - this is a film that shows how people facing danger and death keep their heads to honour their relationships, professions and their humanity. An unforgettable film, and one that puts the overblown special effects and underdeveloped characterisations of Titanic to shame.

Viewers of "The Last Voyage" who have branded it a "cinematic turkey" are mislead, in my opinion. This film achieves a realism that is superior to the many disaster genre films that followed it. But more importantly, it is a visual record of one of the finest transatlantic liners ever--the French Line's Isle de France. I don't know of any motion picture that actually used a ship as a floating prop as extensively as Stone's film. The Isle de France represented an important departure in ship design. Earlier liners attempted to disguise the fact that they were ocean-going vessels. The "Isle de France" brought the new art deco and moderne styles to the high seas and utilized some of the finest French designers to craft this ship of state. When the later Normandie was lost, many of her furnishings were transferred to the Isle including furnishings by the famous designer Ruhlman. Here in this film are these exciting interiors for all to see for the last time prior to sending the Isle to the ship breakers. The film also heralds the very twilight of regularly scheduled transatlantic and transpacific liner service as the jet began to rapidly displace this very civilized way to travel.

After a fire in the engine room, "Claridon" luxury liner captain George Sanders (as Robert Adams), in true disaster movie form, orders engineer Edmond O'Brien (as Walsh) his crew to make repairs without telling on-board passengers. But, when the ship suffers a subsequent explosion in its boiler room, everyone knows something has gone horribly wrong. Job-transferring from Sacramento to Tokyo, Robert Stack (as Cliff Henderson) finds beautiful blonde wife Dorothy Malone (as Laurie) pinned under some debris. Moreover, red-haired daughter Tammy Marihugh (as Jill) is left cowering on the side of their cabin, which has lost its floor.

Watching Mr. Stack rescue his daughter is a highlight, even though you know how this will play out; rest assured, filmmakers weren't in the habit of killing off cute little girls in the beginning of 1960 movies. From then on, the story focuses on Stack's efforts to save Ms. Malone while passengers and crew scramble for survival. Stack and Malone must consider the possibility that she - still pinned under a steel beam - should go down with the ship. One of the first crew people willing to help the couple is presciently cast Woody Strode (as Hank Lawson). Writer/director Andrew L. Stone and his wife Virginia make "The Last Voyage" an exciting trip.

******** The Last Voyage (2/19/60) Andrew L. Stone ~ Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, Woody Strode, Edmond O'Brien

We have to say this was a real surprise when it was presented by TCM the other night. Andrew Stone's "The Last Voyage" makes an impressive film that got our attention from the start. Mr. Stone, working with his own screen play, makes a great disaster film about a luxury ocean liner that encounters problems in the middle of the Pacific.

This film looks so real, it's hard to believe it's a filmed account of a real disaster. The old Ile de France was used for the exterior shots and sunk for realism sake. The story is compelling, as well as terrifying. Imagine to find yourself in the middle of an ocean facing death aboard luxurious surroundings!

That is the fate the Hendersons encounter on their way to Japan. Cliff and Laurie are happily married with a small daughter. Everything looks good, but a funereal note is delivered to the captain in the middle of a meal. "Fire in the engine room"! This is only be beginning of the end. We realize this is going to be a horrible experience.

The film feels real. When an explosion occurs, Cliff returns to his cabin only to find Laurie trapped by some steel panels and he can't move her. To make matters worse, he finds his young daughter in a panic holding dearly to her life on a ledge of what used to be her room. The rescue effort of the girl, in a terrifying scene, is one of the most heart wrenching things in the movie. We watch, in horror, at the end, as Laurie is kept alive from drowning,

Excellent acting from all the principals. Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, George Sanders, Edmond O'Brien, Jack Krushen, Woody Strode and the rest of the cast, makes this a film that delivers a lot of action and keeps us glued to what's happening.

A film to recommend those with a strong heart. A great achievement for the director Andrew Stone.