Dangerous Charter

I sat down to watch this movie without knowing all that much about it, though I was expecting the worst. To my surprise, I didn't find the movie to be terrible at all. True, it is not without faults. It's pretty low budget, with the seams (or cameraman shadows) showing at times. Also, the movie is a bit too low key; the bad guys don't come across as a real threat in almost all of their scenes. On the positive side, however, the movie moves at a pretty swift pace; the seventy four or so minute running time seems the right length for this particular story. And the movie does keep you curious as to what plot turns will happen and if the protagonists will be able to escape from harm. While I don't think this is a movie that's worth actively seeking out, I can say with full confidence that I have seen many, many movies that are much worse than this one. If you stumble across this movie, give it a chance.

Three fishermen discover an abandoned yacht in the middle of the ocean; they board it and discover a dead body. The authorities let them keep the boat guessing that the real owner to be a mysterious criminal who they suspect will try to charter it, which of course does happen and needless to say his intentions are no good.

Dangerous Charter was filmed in 1958 but not released until 1962. I am not too sure why this was but guess it found difficulty in getting a distribution deal. This seems a little unfair as this is a well-paced and pretty suspenseful little thriller. Unlike most sea-based movies it actually looks like it was shot on board the vessel. This authenticity does it some favours and the scenes at sea are very nice. The story itself is quite a routine affair but I did find myself involved with it and was actually bothered by what was happening on-screen. On the whole, this is a more than decent little genre piece.

Three fishermen come across a yacht, abandoned except for a corpse. They're puzzled, but tow it back to port and put in for salvage. It's approved, but the police want to know what they're going to do with her. They reply there's a lot of money in the charter business. Surprisingly, the police have already put the charter notice in the papers. All they ask is that they be informed when someone wants the boat. It turns out to Dick Foote, with plenty of cash, working for a mysterious boss. The police are uncertain, so the owners set to sea with Foote: Chris Warfield, Chick Chandler, Wright King, and Warfield's fiancee, Sally Fraser, as cook.

It's a good story, competent if minor actors in place, Technicolor and Panavision, and some nice at-sea photography and off Catalina. So what is it that makes me consider it another poorly executed B movie? I concluded it's Peter Forster as the mysterious guy who pays for the charter comes on board in an absurdly unnecessary manner, and speaks in ripe, plummy tones at all times. It's also something about the pacing, mostly the odd pauses in the dialogue. Writer/director Robert Gottschalk seems to know what people say, but no clear idea of how they say it, or perhaps was simply trying to save money by avoiding extra takes.

OK, so it's not Taylor/Burton material! But so what? Remarkable as it was only shot in five days! Why do 'Premier' Movies take months........?

I think this is a testament to excellent acting/directing and production skills. There is a good story line, albeit a little predictable.

All in all a very watchable movie. I feel the actors delivered exactly what was required of them. We must remember this was filmed in the late Fifty's and 'Aired' in 1962.

A very different time and place from today! If you get the chance please watch this film.

Apparently, this was made in under one week - and though that is to be commended, it does not make this film any better! It's got a sort of Alastair Maclean style premiss: a yacht is found abandoned, save for a corpse, by a fishing boat. They report it all and lay claim to salvage rights. Only snag is - the boat has a secret cargo that Peter Forster ("Monet") will stop at nothing to acquire, so when the authorities use them as bait to ensnare the real murderer/smuggler it all gets a bit risky. Sadly, though, there is absolutely no suspense whatsoever; the acting - admittedly, this is the ultimate B-cast - is mediocre at best, and the repetitive score all too often has to substitute for the weak and feeble dialogue. To be fair to the fisher-folks "Marty" (Chris Warfield) and "June" (Sally Fraser), they do look as if they enjoyed making this film, especially as the ending livens things up a bit, but that emotion does not really transcend to the viewer for the rest of this film. I reckon they did well to spin this story out for 75 minutes!