The Captain's Paradise (1953)

The bigamist captain of a ferry boat between the restricted British colony in Gibraltar and Spanish Morocco has a woman of differing appeal and temperament in each port.

Director:

Anthony Kimmins

Writers:

Alec Coppel (story), Alec Coppel,

Stars:

Alec Guinness, Yvonne De Carlo, Celia Johnson

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alec Guinness	...	Captain Henry St. James
Yvonne De Carlo	...	Nita St. James
Celia Johnson	...	Maud St. James
Charles Goldner	...	Chief Officer Ricco
Miles Malleson	...	Lawrence St. James
Walter Crisham	...	Bob
Nicholas Phipps	...	The Major
Bill Fraser	...	Absalom (taxi driver)
Ferdy Mayne	...	The Sheikh
Sebastian Cabot	...	Ali (vendor)
Peter Bull	...	Kalikan firing-squad officer
Claudia Grey	...	Susan Dailey
Ann Hefferman	...	Daphne Bligh
Arthur Gomez	...	Chief steward
George Benson	...	Mr. Salmon

Storyline

Mediterranean ferryboat captain Henry St James has things well organized - a loving and very English wife Maud in Gibraltar, and the loving if rather more hot-blooded Mistress, Nita in Tangiers. A perfect life. As long as neither woman decides to follow him to the other port.

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Plot Keywords:

gibraltar | morocco | ferry boat | tangiers | bigamist | 

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Taglines:

A Model Husband... in Gibraltar! A Gay, Dashing Lover... in North Africa!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 September 1953 (USA)

Also Known As:

Paradise

Filming Locations:

Gibraltar

Company Credits

Production Co:

London Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Henry's quote 'We cultivate the faculty of patient expectancy..." is taken from 'G. K. Chesterton' ("I am cultivating the faculty of patient expectancy.").

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Goofs

The shots of the ship at night are obviously of a model, as can be seen by the movement of the sea at the bow.

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Quotes

Capt. Henry St. James: [On the bridge, musing out loud to no one in particular] 'He that would enter paradise must have a golden key.'
Chief Officer Ricco: [Overhearing] You said something about a key, captain...
Capt. Henry St. James: I was merely quoting, Ricco, an old proverb.

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Connections

Remade as Coffee, Tea or Me? (1973)

User Reviews

such fun!!

i just got this through my local library as part of a goal to see much more of alec guinness's work. it was much better than even i had hoped. the writing is excellent and has caused me to seek out more films by the screenwriter, alec coppel. the film begins with a rich premise: a cruise ship's captain has worked out for himself a paradisical life by keeping two wives, one in gibraltar and one across the bay(?) in ceuta. guinness has determined that 'it's impossible to find a perfect woman' so he has chosen these two wives,each of whom embodies 'half of a perfect woman'. the British wife is dull and dutiful, cooking and keeping house, and when he's with her he leads a quiet boring life and goes to bed each night at 10pm. but when he's with his Latin-looking sexy dancer-wife, he keeps a totally opposite lifestyle- eating out with his wife every night, drinking , dancing, and cavorting in midnight swims... what a hoot! but eventually ' he gets a little sloppy' and a demise is in the works.... the plot's turn is very surprising(given the era) and satisfying. an 8 for me.