Ship of Fools (1965)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Stanley Kramer

Writers:

Katherine Anne Porter (novel)
Abby Mann (screenplay)

Release Date:

October 1965 (Austria)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

EXPLORER, MISTRESS, VAGRANT, LOAFER, ARTIST, TRAMP ... THEY ARE ALL AT THE CAPTAIN'S TABLE!

Plot:

Passengers on a ship traveling from Mexico to Europe in the 1930s represent society at large in that era...

Plot Keywords:

Traveling | Ship | 1930s | Cruise | Racist

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

Vivien Leigh	...	Mary Treadwell
Simone Signoret	...	La Condesa
José Ferrer	...	Rieber (as Jose Ferrer)
Lee Marvin	...	Tenny
Oskar Werner	...	Dr. Schumann
Elizabeth Ashley	...	Jenny
George Segal	...	David
José Greco	...	Pepe (as Jose Greco)
Michael Dunn	...	Glocken
Charles Korvin	...	Capt. Thiele
Heinz Rühmann	...	Lowenthal (as Heinz Ruehmann)
Lilia Skala	...	Frau Hutten
Barbara Luna	...	Amparo
Alf Kjellin	...	Freytag
Christiane Schmidtmer	...	Lizzi

Runtime:

149 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | UK:12 (2007) | UK:A (1965) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Spain:7

Company:

Stanley Kramer Productions

Trivia:

Vivien Leigh's last film.

Goofs:

Continuity: As the passengers disembark at the end, Johann pauses on the steps to watch Amparo walk by, when Tenny appears walking down the steps behind Johann. Immediately the film cuts to a shot of the gangplank above, where Tenny is seen just leaving the ship.

Quotes:

Mary Treadwell: Everybody on this ship is in love. Love me whether or not I love you. Love me whether I am fit to love. Love me whether I am able to love. Even is there is no such thing as love. Love me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Murder, She Wrote: Ship of Thieves (#9.20)" (1993)

Soundtrack:

Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann

I loved it!

It should come as no surprise that, the week after I fall in love with Grand Hotel, I should fall in love with Ship of Fools, which is basically Grand Hotel on a boat. Remarkably interesting characters played by remarkably good actors interact during a 26 day voyage from Mexico to Germany in 1933. Times are changing, and there's a gathering storm in Europe. There are dozens of characters and stories in the film and it would be silly to describe any of them in detail, but the emotional core of the film belongs to the ship doctor and a Spanish contessa, brilliantly played by Oskar Werner (who also gave a brilliant performance the same year in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold) and Simone Signoret. There really wasn't the tiniest bit of the movie with which I was disappointed. Perhaps my only complaint is that it didn't go on long enough. I wanted to be on that ship. I guess the best I can do is rush out to buy the novel, which I expect is even more engrossing. 10/10.