The Ghost Ship

I had never heard of this Val Lewton production till it recently showed up on television. Yet, as directed by Mark Robson, it is one of Lewton's very best.

Russell Wade as the young sailor who is menaced by mentally off-balance captain Richard Dix is handsome and very persuasive. What happened to this actor? I had never heard of him before, either.

The movie has a marvelously eerie, foreboding quality that is maintained throughout, from the blind soothsayer we see before Tom Merriam (Wade) boards the ship, through the sea chanteys, Caribbean songs, the heroic mute sailor.

I generally shy away from all-male casts but in this case, the claustrophobic nature of the plot would have been maintained better had it not been "opened out," albeit briefly, with the scene onshore involving the third billed admirer of Dix.

(Her friend, whom we see greeting Wade at the end in silhouette, is a plot device to imply a happy ending. This is OK because the damage to our nerves has already been done. Dix has already had several of his crew killed and has almost succeeded in doing away with Wade.)

Tom Merriam takes a job as the Third Officer on the cargo ship The Altair. Despite a strange interaction with a blind man in port, things look good for Tom as the ship appears good and the Captain is amiable enough. Finding that his bed is still a mess from when the last Third died there is a little disturbing but he gets past it and begins to work. When the Captain puts lives at risk rather than be seen to have his authority questioned by Merriam, Tom starts to worry that the Captain is living within his own head too much – a worry reinforced when more men and put at risk and deaths are caused; but how can he change things? Apparently commissioned because RKO had an expensive ship set knocking around that they wanted to get more use out of, this film is surprisingly enjoyable and works because it tries to shun melodrama and be something much more interesting. This is not to say it totally does this, because it doesn't, but it does have plenty of good things about it. The story is fairly standard in appearance but the Captain's "madness" is convincing and realistic – he is not a gibbering loon but rather a man who appears to have lost touch with reality thanks to a lonely and sad life to date. Within this story the script develops the characters well so that they rise above being the stock figures of b-movie fare. With a low key story, the production still really goes for it on atmosphere and produces an air of foreboding and menace that is present from the very start. Shadows are well used, fog drifts over the decks and the music is constantly moving darkly in the background – menacing without ever being overused or overbearing.

The cast do very well with this product. Wade was surprisingly good in the lead and it made me wonder why I have never knowingly seen him in anything else. He was a pretty regular guy and came off natural rather than being the square-jawed hero that is often the norm. He plays second fiddle to Dix though, who sets up a strangely friendly character who convincingly moves into a sort of madness that is convincing. He avoids being a monster and naturally questions himself while also producing a character that we feel for – Dix is not just a "baddie" to Wade's "goodie". Barrett is so-so but the film didn't need her and her scene slows the film by taking it off the ship albeit briefly. Support is good from Glover, Overall an enjoyable film that produces the goods on many levels and is much better than I thought it was going to be. The plot seems simple but the writing respect the audience and makes the story more interesting than the usual goodie/baddie fare. The atmospheric and tense production only helps to produce a punchy, mysterious film that is well worth seeing even if the ending needed to be a bit stronger and darker but this is a minor flaw.

The picture deals with Tom (Russell Wade), a third officer who embarks on the ship Altair under command the stiff Captain Stone (Richard Dix) . Strange deaths of crew seamen originate confrontation among different personalities : a distrustful officer and a tough captain obsessed with authority .

Tension and suspense are continued and appear menacing and lurking in cabins , stairs , docks and pier . The movie has the expressionist Germanic atmosphere ; besides , being reflected in the captain's bizarre and quirky interpretation . Cinematographer Nicholas Musuruca (Cat people and Stranger on third floor) creates a magnificent camera-work , along with John Alton are the essential artificers of Noir cinema atmosphere . Cinematography is excellent , dark and lights are originating eerie and creepy scenarios . The film is produced by RKO (Radio Picture Inc.) and by Val Lewton , the great producer of horror classics (Cat people , Leopard man , I walked with a zombie) ; plus , he produced for director Mark Robson various movies (Bedlan , Isle of the dead and Seventh victim) in similar conditions . Habitual RKO musician , Roy Webb , composes an atmospheric score with the usual musical director Bakaleinikoff . Good production design in charge of Albert D'Agostino . RKO had built an expensive ship set for their 1938 production Pacific Liner (1939) , Val Lewton was given instructions to come up with a film that could use the still existing set . The motion picture well well directed by Mark Robson . The picture will appeal to classic cinema buffs.

Perhaps not as mesmerizing as "Cat People" or as disturbing as "The Body Snatcher", but this still definitely is a genuinely creepy golden oldie horror gem like only the great Val Lewton could produce them back in the 1940's. This dark and atmospheric chiller takes us aboard a giant ship in order to examine the mysterious deaths of several crew members. They all seem like unfortunate accidents, but pretty soon the young and ambitious officer Tom Merriam suspects that Captain Will Stone abuses his power in order to get rid of rebellious personnel. The film is terrifically cut in half when the ship sets ashore and Merriam prosecutes the influential and highly respected captain. From then on, the nemesis between the two is frighteningly illustrated and a drama on-board the ship seems inevitable. Richard Dix is outstanding as the tormented Captain Will Stone! He looks naturally eerie and definitely not man to argue with. The black and white photography is stunning and the constantly sung sailor-song will remain stuck in your head, even long after you finished watching the movie. The Val Lewton horror of course isn't very explicit (considering the time and budget) but this movie does contain at least one truly unsettling sequence; when a giant chain crushes a crew member. My advise is to watch this classic as soon as you can, if it were only for the ultra-eerie mute in the supportive cast!

Tom Merriam is a third mate on the Altair, a cargo ship headed by Captain Stone, who Merriam looks to as a father figure, since Stone has the experience and the full loyalty of the crew. Merriam's opinion of his commanding officer is changed after a series of events (including the death of a mate due the captain's interference) and Merriam believes that Stone is unfit to command the ship. A hearing at the ship's port has the crew and line agent side with Stone, and Merriam is relieved of his duties as third mate. While on shore, Merriam is knocked out for trying to stop a fight, and is put back on the Altair much to his and Stone's disapproval. Stone says Merriam is now a guest on the ship, but the crew shuns him and Merriam believes that Stone is going totally insane and plans to kill Merriam, who now has to find someone to believe him before its too late. Underrated (and for a long time, unseen) classic from the Lewton-RKO 9, with above average script, camera-work, cinematography, but highlighted by probably Dix's best performance as Stone, as a man who is insane try to fool himself and those around him by acting normal. Excellent moments of suspense (especially for me when Merriam notices the lock missing from his door) make this a film one to get a hold of. Rating, 8.