Mörder an Bord

Back in the day, films often featured actors playing races other than their own. Charlie Chan was played by a Swedish-American and Boris Karloff played the Chinese detective Mr. Wong. All of these are pretty silly when you see them today due to the casting (though they both still made some terrific series films). Such is how I felt as I watched "The Decks Ran Red", where two Maoris from New Zealand were played by Black Americans! Black people and Maoris simply don't look like each other...and I especially laughed because Dorothy Dandridge of all people played one of them. I've been to New Zealand a couple times...and never saw ANYONE who looked like her! It's a shame, as it's not a bad story...it's just incredibly poorly cast.

Along a similar vein, I read up on the ill-fated S. S. Berwind. The mutineers in the actual 1905 incident were black men...though everyone in the film is white (aside from the two 'Maoris'). A lot of other changes were made in the original story...such as placing it in the 1950s as well as in the South Pacific. I'm not sure why these changes were made....but so many were made it's best to regard the film as fiction.

When the story begins, the captain of a merchant ship has died and Edwin Rummill (James Mason) has been hired to command the ship. However, when he arrives in New Zealand to take command, he can easily see that its crew are disgruntled and perhaps mutinous. Instead of refusing the assignment or getting a new crew, Rummill makes the disastrous choice to go ahead anyway, as the ship is already three days late.

Aboard the ship, you soon learn that Henry Scott and Leroy Martin (Broderick Crawford and Stuart Whitman) have hatched a truly evil plan. They have been fomenting dissent...and their ultimate goal is to get everyone but themselves on the ship to either kill each other OR they'll do it to them. Then, when the ship is derelict, they' plan to claim the boat as salvage and get rich. Does their plan work? Well, as I watched I had no idea since the film diverged so much from the 1905 incident...and I know how the 1905 incident went down.

The story is quite taut and certainly is never dull. The acting was good, though Dandridge's character wasn't needed in the film and she was just added as eye candy (after all, a merchant ship would NOT bring a woman along...especially back in 1905). Worth seeing...just don't think it has much to do with the REAL Berwind incident...which, incidentally, ended MUCH differently as well! Well worth seeing, but seeing the ACTUAL story probably would have been more exciting.

Despite Oscar winner Broderick Crawford and nominees James Mason, Dorothy Dandridge, Stuart Whitman, and Jack Kruschen, this 84 minute amateurish production is excruciatingly long and dull and badly acted. This may be based on a real story but this production is among the worst films I've ever seen---and I've seen thousands of films. And all the acting is dreadful. It seems like they're making is up as they go along. Stupid dialog, ridiculous situations, and dumb characters make this a total waste of time. Laughable from the very opening, this turkey goes on and on and on until the foolish ending. I cannot believe such good actors as Mason and Crawford got stuck in this bilge. Dandridge comes off like a cartoon and Whitman is witless. David Cross, Hank Patterson, Barney Phillips, and Katherine Bard also appear to no advantage. This project should have been scuttled before the cameras started.

Forget the advertising tagline (although Dorothy Dandridge is beautiful to look at)! This is a crisp little thriller, apparently fact-based, about a couple of malcontent seamen (Crawford and Whitman) who try to foment a mutiny against new captain Mason as a cover for a scheme to kill the entire crew and bring in the ship as salvage. Except for a rather abrupt ending, nicely done by the Stones.

First time watching and I was captivated throughout. I'm not sure why attention was given to Dorothy Dandridge as hers seemed like a small part. Very brutal but believable plot given that anything could happen on the open sea. I especially liked the scene of the ship intending to ram the lifeboat. It was a great camera angle and one actor uses sailor jargon like, "she's really got a bone in her teeth". I was also amused by the hip lingo used by the actors. Crawford reminds me of a ratpacker no matter what film he is in. I was wondering if anyone could tell me what ship(s) was used in the film for the interior and exterior shots? It looks like a Liberty Ship I took a cruise on, the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien.

I agree with the previous comments 100%, but I just wanted to add something about the magnificently evil Broderick Crawford and Stuart Whitman (!!). When Stuart gets his hands on Dorothy the second time, the suspense was so strong that I involuntarily started screaming homicidal epithets at the small screen. Be sure to watch this one alone so you can let it all hang out without being embarrassed.