Voyage of the Damned (1976)

The tragic 1939 voyage of SS St. Louis carrying hundreds of German Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany that seemingly no nation is willing to save from certain doom.

Director:

Stuart Rosenberg

Writers:

Steve Shagan (screenplay), David Butler (screenplay),

Stars:

Faye Dunaway, Oskar Werner, Lee Grant

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Faye Dunaway	...	Denise Kreisler
Oskar Werner	...	Professor Egon Kreisler
Lee Grant	...	Lili Rosen
Sam Wanamaker	...	Carl Rosen
Lynne Frederick	...	Anna Rosen
David de Keyser	...	Joseph Joseph
Della McDermott	...	Julia Strauss
Genevieve West	...	Sarah Strauss
Luther Adler	...	Professor Weiler
Wendy Hiller	...	Rebecca Weiler
Julie Harris	...	Alice Fienchild
Nehemiah Persoff	...	Mr. Hauser
Maria Schell	...	Mrs. Hauser
Paul Koslo	...	Aaron Pozner
Jonathan Pryce	...	Joseph Manasse

Storyline

937 Jewish Germans are offered safe haven in Havana, Cuba, in 1939. They depart Hamburg in high spirits, looking forward to their new life. However, after weeks of unsuccessful pleas they are forced to return back to Europe.

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Plot Keywords:

nazi | jew | voyage | germany | ship | 

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Taglines:

In The Shadow of Death... [UK]

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 December 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

El viaje de los malditos

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sir Lew Grade, Associated General Films, ITC Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

155 min 182 min (video)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Last film of Oskar Werner.

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Goofs

Outside the German Army HQ in late 1930s Hamburg, a 1970s red London bus drives past.

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Connections

Referenced in Frasier: Voyage of the Damned (1997)

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Soundtracks

"Green Eyes"
(uncredited)
Written by Adolfo Utrera and Nilo Menendez

User Reviews

A Voyage Worth Taking

This film details a very dark chapter in U.S. (in fact, World) history. As a propaganda tactic, to attempt to dismiss the notion that they were committing genocide, WWII Germany fills a cruise ship with Jewish citizens and sends them off to Cuba, purportedly so that they can be free. Unfortunately, Cuba will not allow the passengers to disembark, nor will the United States and so the ship must turn back, thus becoming the voyage of the damned. The cast is jam packed with stars of the day and most of them are great. Among the standouts are Von Sydow as the Captain--a pawn in the political game, McDowell as a sympathetic crewman, Dunaway as an aloof, glamorous German married to a Jew (Werner), Wanamaker as a desperate, concerned victim of circumstance and Ross (in one of her most heartfelt roles) as the daughter of two of the passengers. Most notable are Pryce & Koslo, unforgettably vulnerable as concentration camp escapees and Grant as the emotionally stunned wife of Wanamaker. Dunaway and Oscar-nominated Grant share the film's most memorable scene as Grant becomes unhinged by the events around her. The film has a sense of cruelty and dread, even if one is not aware of the outcome, and it can be painful to behold, but this is a story that needs to be told and the drama is, at times, quite compelling. Certainly the cast of familiar faces makes it easy to take. Bloated, cue-card-reading Welles is one drawback, but fortunately, he is not on screen long.