Along with some early TV appearances, this is one of three public domain films for the legendary Angela Lansbury during a period of her career where she was taking practically every job she could, waiting for the break that would not come until a few years later, and repeated when she became a big Broadway star. It is a period drama, sit during the War of 1812, dealing with the British kidnapping of Americans and forcing them to work on their ships. That leads to war being declared and for a former ship's captain, Patric Knowles, to take on the Java first officer to the new captain, Mark Stevens, interrupted by the arrival of Angela who is furious to find out what has happened, thinking that former fiance Knowles is still captain. Her plans to return to shore and leave him for good are changed by the discovery of gold on the ship which leads to the mutiny and casts Stevens overboard.
Fortunately the print that I got of this movie was much better than other prints that I had tried to watch years before, making this first full viewing of the film much better than I had remembered. That being said, it's still not a great film, very convoluted especially in the second half, although Lansbury is fun to watch. She has a great wardrobe and gets to be quite cold-hearted, a continuation of what she had done at MGM and preparing for the even more cold-hearted character that she would portray in "The Manchurian Candidate". She has a great line towards the crew members who show her the gold, indicating that they are stinky and beneath her, but at that moment, she loves them. Everything is fine as long as they are aboard the ship, and the plot concerns the war, but as it gets involved in the mutiny, the film runs aground and becomes rather unbelievable and absurd. Director Edmund Dmytryk would go on to direct a greater film about a mutiny (based on a popular Broadway play), but unfortunately, this one had major script problems. Still, there's some good action and the film doesn't overstay it's welcome so it's decent viewing as a passable time filling programmer, especially as a reminder of what the late show used to be like.
Fortunately the print that I got of this movie was much better than other prints that I had tried to watch years before, making this first full viewing of the film much better than I had remembered. That being said, it's still not a great film, very convoluted especially in the second half, although Lansbury is fun to watch. She has a great wardrobe and gets to be quite cold-hearted, a continuation of what she had done at MGM and preparing for the even more cold-hearted character that she would portray in "The Manchurian Candidate". She has a great line towards the crew members who show her the gold, indicating that they are stinky and beneath her, but at that moment, she loves them. Everything is fine as long as they are aboard the ship, and the plot concerns the war, but as it gets involved in the mutiny, the film runs aground and becomes rather unbelievable and absurd. Director Edmund Dmytryk would go on to direct a greater film about a mutiny (based on a popular Broadway play), but unfortunately, this one had major script problems. Still, there's some good action and the film doesn't overstay it's welcome so it's decent viewing as a passable time filling programmer, especially as a reminder of what the late show used to be like.