The Decks Ran Red (1958)

Director:

Andrew L. Stone

Writer:

Andrew L. Stone

Stars:

James Mason, Dorothy Dandridge, Broderick Crawford

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Mason	...	Capt. Edwin Rummill
Dorothy Dandridge	...	Mahia
Broderick Crawford	...	Henry Scott
Stuart Whitman	...	Leroy Martin
Katharine Bard	...	Joan Rummill
Jack Kruschen	...	Alex Cole
Hanna Landy	...	Doris Belger
John Gallaudet	...	'Bull' Pringle
Barney Phillips	...	Karl Pope
David Cross	...	Mace (as David R. Cross)
Hank Patterson	...	Mr. Moody
Harry Bartell	...	Tom Walsh
Joel Fluellen	...	Pete
Guy Kingsford	...	Jim Osborne
Jonathan Hole	...	Mr. Adams

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

polynesian | murder | ship captain | ship | mutiny | 

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Taglines:

They murdered her man... and now she was at the mercy of the love-starved crew of the Berwind!

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 March 1959 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Infamy at Sea

Company Credits

Production Co:

Andrew L. Stone Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Quotes

Capt. Edwin Rummill: [Mahia, serving dinner in the officer's mess, is dressed rather provocatively] I suggest that while you're on this ship, you wear something a little less revealing.
Mahia: [Coyly] Does it bother the captain?
Capt. Edwin Rummill: [Capt. Rummill does not respond, merely gives her disapproving looks, then resumes his dinner]

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Connections

Referenced in To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995)

User Reviews

Pretty brutal for its time.

These two merchant sailors -- Broderick Crawford and Stewart Whitman -- get a crazy idea aboard a freighter. They're going to kill every officer and man aboard, waterlog the ship, radio for help, claim there was a mutiny and everyone left the ship but them, and claim the ship, worth a million bucks, for salvage.

Granted, the idea is slightly askew, but these guys are snipes, working down in the engine room and the temperature there runs around 116 degrees and sounds like the deepest pits of hell. That environment will drive anyone nuts. Besides, it's like the old joke. "How's your wife?" "Compared to WHAT?" If you put Crawford and Whitman next to the Manson Family or al Qaeda they look like paragons of rationality. So, okay, let's leave them some leeway, so to speak.

I'll skip the plot, I guess, because it doesn't require much in the way of explanation. The dialog lacks verve and credibility. "Anything can happen!" "Whoever destroyed the radios must have had a PURPOSE." And when the officers find three corpses in the engine room, someone says to Mason, "Do you realize the ENORMITY of this?" The acting doesn't require much comment either. Everybody involved delivers about what you'd expect. Mason is smooth, Crawford plays a junk man, Whitman is a little ratty, and none of the others stand out -- except Dorothy Dandridge. She can't act very well, but -- wow! What a dish. I don't know about "a million bucks" but Dorothy Dandridge could start a genuine mutiny alright.

I vaguely remember seeing this when it was released and, it may be hard for a contemporary viewer to understand but, like "The Sniper," which was released about the same time, it was shocking in its brutality. The theater suddenly went kind of quiet when Crawford deliberately picked off one of the crew members from a few feet away with a high-powered rifle. The sexy Dandridge was memorable too, although I don't recall that she quieted down the audience.

The Perrys, who produced, had a habit of using real locations for their shoots. "Cry Terror," another suspenser with James Mason, made good use of New York locations. And they actually sunk a liner for one of their movies, something like, "The Last Voyage." I'm glad they never made a movie about the end of the world.

The story isn't really a grabber and the acting is no more than routine but this is worth seeing, if only because it gives you a chance to feel what it's really like to be on a ship, not a mockup of the kind that John Wayne sails through with such ease. The ship, by the way, is pretty ship shape and not at all a rust bucket. She's also high in the water because she's carrying no cargo.