The Ghost Ship (1943)

Tom Merriam signs on the ship Altair as third officer under Captain Stone. At first things look good, Stone sees Merriam as a younger version of himself and Merriam sees Stone as the first ... See full summary »

Director:

Mark Robson

Writers:

Donald Henderson Clarke (screenplay), Leo Mittler (story)

Stars:

Richard Dix, Russell Wade, Edith Barrett

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Richard Dix	...	Capt. Will Stone
Russell Wade	...	3rd Officer Tom Merriam / Tertius
Edith Barrett	...	Ellen Roberts
Ben Bard	...	First Officer Bowns
Edmund Glover	...	Jacob 'Sparks' Winslow, Radioman

Storyline

Tom Merriam signs on the ship Altair as third officer under Captain Stone. At first things look good, Stone sees Merriam as a younger version of himself and Merriam sees Stone as the first adult to ever treat him as a friend. But after a couple strange deaths of crew members, Merriam begins to think Stone is a psychopathic madman obsessed with authority. He tries to tell others, but no one believes him, and it only makes Stone angry..

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Plot Keywords:

ship | authority | captain | merchant marine | murder | 

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Taglines:

MYSTERY TERROR! (original print ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

27 July 1944 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Ghost Ship

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

69 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Very shortly after its theatrical release in December of 1943, producer Val Lewton was sued for plagiarism by Samuel R. Golding and Norbert Faulkner, who claimed that Lewton based his script on a play which they had written and submitted to Lewton's office at the time "The Ghost Ship" was being developed. Although Lewton had the opportunity to settle out of court, he chose to have the case tried. Despite Lewton's claims that their manuscript was returned unread, the court ruled against Lewton and RKO (a decision upheld at appeal), and The Ghost Ship was withdrawn from circulation. It remained unavailable for viewing for the next 50 years.

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Goofs

In a close-up of the porthole in Tertius' cabin, wires to move the detached lid are visible.

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Quotes

Finn, the Mute: [voiceover] The man is dead. With his death, the waters of the sea are open to us. But there will be other deaths, and the agony of dying, before we come to land again.

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Connections

Edited from King Kong (1933)

User Reviews

Little known movie produced by the great Val Lewton

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

The tension and suspense is continued and appears menacing and lurking in cabins,stairs,docks and pier.The movie has the expressionist Germanic atmosphere ,besides is reflected with the bizarre and quirky captain interpretation .Nicholas Musuruca(Cat people and stranger on third floor) creates a magnificent camera-work, along with John Alton are the essentials artificers of noir cinema atmosphere.Cinematography is excellent,dark and lights are originating an 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 varied movies(Bedlan,Isle of the dead and Seventh victim) with similar conditions. Habitual musician RKO,Roy Webb, makes an atmospheric score with the usual musical director Bakaleinikoff.Good production design is in charge of Albert D'Agostino .The motion picture is well directed by Mark Robson.The picture will like to classic cinema buffs.