The Last Voyage (1960)

After a boiler explosion aboard an aging ocean liner, a man struggles to free his injured wife from the wreckage of their cabin and ensure the safety of their four-year-old daughter as the ship begins to sink.

Director:

Andrew L. Stone

Writer:

Andrew L. Stone

Stars:

Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, George Sanders

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Robert Stack	...	Cliff Henderson
Dorothy Malone	...	Laurie Henderson
George Sanders	...	Captain Robert Adams
Edmond O'Brien	...	Second Engineer Walsh
Woody Strode	...	Hank Lawson
Jack Kruschen	...	Chief Engineer Pringle
Joel Marston	...	Third Officer Ragland
George Furness	...	Third Officer Osborne
Richard Norris	...	3rd Engineer Cole
Marshall Kent	...	Quartermaster
Andrew Hughes	...	Radio Operator
Robert Martin	...	2nd Mate Mace
Bill Wilson	...	Youth
Tammy Marihugh	...	Jill Henderson

Storyline

Cliff Henderson and his family are traveling aboard the SS Claridon en route to Japan. The Claridon is an old ship, on its last voyage before heading to the scrap heap. An explosion in the engine room weakens the hull and the ship is now taking on more water that the bilge pumps can deal with. The Captain seems to have difficulty accepting that his ship will sink. Henderson's wife Laurie is severely injured and trapped under a fallen beam. While the men in the engine room work frantically to shore up the hull, Henderson tries to free his wife from the wreckage with the help of one of the crew, Hank Lawson.

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Plot Keywords:

ship | explosion | trapped | boiler room | ocean liner | 

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Taglines:

91 MINUTES OF THE MOST INTENSE SUSPENSE IN MOTION PICTURE HISTORY (original print ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 February 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die letzte Fahrt der Claridon

Filming Locations:

Santa Monica Bay, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The ship used by the filmmakers was the SS Ile de France, the famous French liner which cruised the Atlantic from 1926 to 1959. She was leased for $4,000 a day. After shooting completed, she was re-floated (having been partially sunk for the film) and was towed to the scrap yard. She has a more heroic place in history, however. It was her that played a major role in the rescue of the passengers from the Italian liner Andrea Doria in 1956, after the latter ship collided with the Swedish ship Stockholm and sank off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts. She was the first ship to arrive at the scene of the collision and immediately began taking aboard the Andrea Doria's passengers.

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Goofs

As the three men rescue Laurie and they escape the doomed ship, there is no sign of all the floors rocking or being askew. Any ship that's waterlogged in the open sea would have floors and walls tilted and it would be shaking under the impact of the water flow, even in fair weather.

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Quotes

Second Engineer Walsh: You know how they pick the captains for these luxury jobs. They have to pass a lot of tests. Sure, he's got to pass the dancing test, the personality test, know how to calm the passengers, make with the jokes. That's what counts.
Chief Engineer Pringle: You're pretty bitter, aren't you, Walsh?
Second Engineer Walsh: Oh, no. My dad once shipped out with a skipper like this. A joker who only thought of breaking records and never inconveniencing the passengers... until it was too late.
Chief Engineer Pringle: What ship was that?
Second Engineer Walsh: The Titanic.

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Connections

References Lifeboat (1944)

User Reviews

Engrossing forerunner of disaster films...a minor 'Titanic'...

A good decade before the disaster films of the '70s we had this engrossing, tightly knit disaster film about a luxury passenger liner's last voyage after a fire and explosions make it sinkable.

George Sanders is the Captain who doesn't want to alert the passengers and thinks the fire can be contained before things get worse. Robert Stack is traveling with his wife and daughter and having a wonderful time until they learn the hard way that the ship is doomed. Most of the film has him trying to find someone help him rescue his wife who becomes trapped beneath some steel girders. Fortunately for him, Woody Strode agrees to help and most of the suspense deals with their efforts to free her despite no help from the Captain or his crew--until Edmond O'Brien joins forces with them to free her.

All of the details are realistic and certainly the actors had to undergo some uncomfortable physical demands in going through their paces. Woody Strode is impressive both physically and otherwise as the man who gives his all to help Stack. He and Robert Stack give the strongest performances in their physically demanding roles.

George Sanders is rather bland as the stubborn Captain but since most of the action concerns Stack and his efforts to free Malone, it doesn't matter too much. Dorothy Malone is impressive as the woman who tells her husband and daughter to save themselves before it's too late.

A very engrossing thriller...but one that had me squirming uncomfortably while watching situations that seemed painfully real. A forerunner of James Cameron's TITANIC, it tells the tale in a swift one hour and thirty minutes with some of the action filmed aboard the real Ile de France.