The Sea Ghost

I watched because of my love of old war movies it was much better then expected. Pulled up on u-tube as U-67.

IMDb lists the date for this as 1939. However, Netflix says 1931. Well, judging by the lady's hairstyle and clothes, 1931 looks to be about right and 1939 cannot possibly be the date. Perhaps the film was made in 1931 (or so) and sat on the shelf for most of the decade--only to be released in '39. Who knows? Regardless of the date, one thing that is hard to deny is that this is a cheap and pretty lame movie. It begins with a prologue that tells us that they're using a lot of crappy stock footage in the first portion of the film. Well, they didn't say 'crappy', but at least they acknowledged the film was original--and very grainy. It shows the sinking of an Allied ship by a German sub. And, because a ship's captain (Alan Hale) disobeyed orders and stopped to look for survivors, he got himself in HUGE trouble and was drummed out of the US Navy.

Years pass. Now Hale is hired for a job, but there is LOTS of trickery and deceit going on--and it's hard to know exactly who's working for who. You know that Hale MUST be a good guy (it's the formula), the skinny skeletal guy is the villain and, here's the ridiculously unbelievable part, the captain of the sub who sank the boat at the beginning of the film is also aboard!! And, it all has to do with a silly plot involving cheating a lady out of her inheritance.

None of "Phantom Submarine U67" makes a lot of sense, and the lady is a TERRIBLE actress. The film also is pretty talky and dull as well. As for the other merits of the film, the direction was static and the scene involving divers early in the film is hilariously bad! That's because it is VERY obvious that they superimposed the actors on an 'expensive underwater set'--which was, in reality, a cheap 10 gallon aquarium!! You can even see the tropical fish swimming about in this home aquarium!! Overall, dumb and silly from start to finish--but not quite bad enough to satisfy bad movie buffs!

Another "B" that's worth a look – especially for fans of Laura La Plante – is the 1931 The Sea Ghost (later re-issued as U 67). The movie stars Alan Hale as a disgraced skipper (courtesy of the stock footage library) and German actor, Peter Erkelenz (in what turned out to be the second of only two Hollywood movies). The plot (propelled by Clarence Wilson's sneaky lawyer) moves from one creaky situation to the next and is certainly not helped by Claud Allister's typical British-to-the-backbone comic relief. Nonetheless, director William Nigh handles a bit of location footage with finesse. As for Miss La Plante's blonde bombshell, she certainly looks great (thanks to ace photographer, Sid Hickox, on loan from Warner Brothers)) but her voice seems both a little too soft and too cultured for a hard-boiled heroine.

There certainly was a fascination with submarine films between the wars! Even such distinguished actors as the great Charles Laughton made his U.S. film debut in one of them (THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP) opposite Tallulah Bankhead, Gary Cooper and Cary Grant set in one of those ubiquitous North African submarine bases!

This effort with the great Laura LaPlante (here with a remarkably modern look - the basic hairstyle Angela Lansbury assumed for MAME - but probably best known for her role as "Magnolia" in the first film of SHOW BOAT in 1929) and Alan Hale (the spitting image of his son, the skipper of the Minnow wrecked on GILLIGAN'S ISLAND) is the somewhat silly tale of a crooked attorney in the old fashioned melodramatic mustache twirling villainous person of Clarence Wilson (you'll recognize him in dozens of films from THE PENGUIN POOL MURDER CASE to THE FRONT PAGE!) trying to either cheat Ms. LaPlante out of what may be her legitimate inheritance or marry her, but in a bid for a remarkably sophisticated approach for 1931, everyone including Ms. LaPlante is given a dark underside or at least more than a single motive or back-story! The director keeps the action swirling at a highly pleasant pace once the crew gets back to shore after retrieving the two conflicting wills which may or may not disinherit Ms. LaPlante, but getting there, with the only actual submarine involvement in the picture - early on the actual U-67 is shown in real life WWI footage (possibly added for the 1939 re-release?) and is supposed to have sunk the "Altania" on which the wills were - the going can be a bit slow.

Also on board are another attorney - a British chap (Claude Allister, a refuge from BULLDOG DRUMMOND who hung around long enough to play the butler, Paul, in KISS ME KATE!) not representing anyone but somewhat strained comic relief, but handy to throw Mr. Hale a life line or two when he needs one - and the German u-boat commander who sank the Altania (Peter Erkelenz, who may actually give the best performance in the film) who turns out not to be the villain Hale expects. The film lays this on a bit thick - not being content to show him as a professional doing his wartime job, but adding yet one more final piece of irony to the film - but over all, whether screened as THE SEA GHOST or U67, this minor studio effort (Peerless Pictures - distributed by at least a dozen different companies including Astor Pictures for the 1939 re-release) tries to be more than your average "B" picture and occasionally succeeds.

A dull sea drama with the lifeless texture of something tossed off to fulfil a quota. Chunky Alan Hale stars as a military sea captain who finds himself involved in a financial scam after he is drummed out of the service, while Laura La Plante is the beneficiary of a will which her sneaky lawyer Clarence Wilson has designs on. It was to be Hale's last starring role before settling into a prolific career as a character actor, and it's no surprise that his status declined if this is an example of the kind of movie he was fronting. It would also be silent star La Plante's last US role for 15 years. Comic relief is supplied by the God-awful Claud 'Silly Arse' Allister.