El último viaje

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.

I heard once that Andrew Stone and Alfred Hitchcock were friends. If so, I can just imagine those two gents sitting around during a long, rainy evening discussing ways of torturing an audience with suspense.

"The Last Voyage" cuts to the chase right away. Something happens on board the ocean liner "Claridon" and before you can sing "row, row, row your boat" the vessel is plunged into crisis. No soapy melodramas, bickering couples, singing nuns, etc. Just a good old-fashioned straightforward action flick. There are two stories. One involves the entirely myopic attempt by the captain (George Sanders) to save the ship and his reputation. He's the voice of authority in denial, prevalent in countless movies (where he's challenged by the pragmatic man-of-action). "Jaws" is a prime example.

The other story concerns the entrapment of Robert Stack's wife in the film (Dorothy Malone) under a steel beam and his race to save her. Naturally, Stack soon finds himself at odds with the captain as he tries to get help to free his wife, and all kinds of obstacles get in his way. Meanwhile things are getting worse with the ship. The suspense keeps cranking tighter and tighter, as I breathlessly watch and try to convince myself that all will be well in the end - to no avail! Filming on a real ship is what really makes this movie work; in fact, the ship becomes a major character in the story. There's very little suspension of disbelief required. Stone keeps the story moving with dispatch and the ninety minutes fly by quickly. There are a few anomalies that I found problematic (where were the ship's medical staff, and how could the captain be SO intransigent), but these were diminished by the strong emotional elements and the movie's depiction of courage, devotion and loyalty, which were inspiring.

I found Dorothy Malone to be particularly moving as the wife who, sensing a hopeless situation, just wants her husband and their kid to get themselves off the ship. It may be that, because I found her to be so sanely practical and REAL, that I kind of fell in love with her. She's the emotional centre of the film.

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.

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.

Did you like 'The Poseidon Adventure' ?? If yes, you will love 'The Last Voyage'. This is one of the most believable pictures I've ever seen; and not without reason: did you know that most of the sinking scenes were shot on the French Liner 'Ile de France' right before it was sold to Chinese wreckers (by the way: that's the reason for all the Chinese Stewards in the picture)?? They actually flooded parts of the engine room for the shooting. And even the scene in the Dining room (at the end)was real; Wanna see how it REALLY is to see a ship sinking ?? Get this movie... The only really disappointing scene is the actual sinking of the 'Claridon'. But it's worth it anyway...