The Sea Ghost

Interesting.. on the opening title screen, this has "copyright 1939".. which must be the RE-release date. Was originally released in 1931 or so. I've never been let down by an Alan Hale film. He made over 200 films ... probably the hardest working guy in show-biz. Could do anything. Even though it's rated pretty so-so on imdb, it's pretty good. Appears to be a mix of footage of a real ship sinking, combined with filmed studio shots. As we open, the Alatania is sunk, and Captain Winters (Hale) a witness is being tried for neglect of duty. Later... Winter is back on board a salvage ship to find the sunken ship and bring up anything of value. Winters tries to convince Evelyn, the daughter, (Laura LaPlante) that he will help her get back her inheritance. Trickery, guns, back-stabbing, conniving all around. Lots of brawling. Viewers will probably recognize Clarence Wilson as the scheming Mr. Sykes. Because of his appearance, he probably played the underhanded, evil guy much more often than he played a good guy. This creeps along at a snail's pace towards the center, but picks up again right near the end. It's not so bad. Entertaining enough. Directed by William Nigh. He had directed a whole bunch of the Mr. Wong films.

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.

This (1931) movie has gone by several names. The one I watched is the U. S. release as "Phantom Submarine U-67" (1931), Alpha Video, Action & Adventure. In some places it is just "U 67". In other places it is called "The Sea Ghost."

We start out with a forward that explains the film best. It covers the use of U-Boats in general and shows authentic exploits of the U 67 which actually take place before our story begins.

U. S. Navy skipper Greg Winters (Alan Hale) is dismissed from the service for hesitating in the attack to instead pick up victims of a torpedo strike. Later through a set of coincidences, he meets up with his nemesis, the U-Boat captain that got away. Now before you think this is a straight-out revenge story think twice as the story gets convoluted and is hard to tell the good, from the bad, and from the ugly.

Cast: Alan Hale, Claude Allister, Laura La Plante, Tom London, Peter Erkeleng, William Nestell, and Jack Richardson.

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.