Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Vivien Leigh | ... | Mary Treadwell | |
Simone Signoret | ... | La Condesa | |
José Ferrer | ... | Siegfried 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 (as Barbara Luna) | |
Christiane Schmidtmer | ... | Lizzi | |
Alf Kjellin | ... | Freytag |
1933: An ocean liner belonging to a second-rate German company is making a twenty-six day voyage from Veracruz, Mexico to Bremerhaven, Germany. Along the way it will stop in Cuba to pick up a large group of Spanish farm laborers who are being shipped home and who will be housed like cattle in steerage. There it will also pick up La Condesa, a Spanish countess. It will stop in Tenerife, where the farm workers will disembark and where La Condesa will be sent to a German-run prison for her "traitorous" activities in Cuba. This voyage will be the last of three for the ship's doctor, Willi Schumann, who has a serious heart ailment and who thought he could find some meaning to his life through this job. Willi and La Condesa fall in love, with the ship's Captain Thiele, who is Willi's closest friend on board, believing the drug-addicted La Condesa is only using him to get her fixes. Willi and La Condesa have to figure out if there is a future for them after the voyage, as Willi's life also ... Written by Huggo
Abby Mann, who also wrote 'Judgement at Nuremburg' for director Stanley Kramer, has here condensed the novel of Katherine Anne Porter to a little under two and a half hours but it still seems a wee bit on the long side. The weakest link is the on/off romance of the angst-ridden artist of George Segal and the insecure girlfriend of Elisabeth Ashley which becomes rather tiresome. The strongest link is the relationship between ship's doctor Schumann and La Condesa. Oskar Werner and Simone Signoret are simply stupendous and their chemistry is palpable. They are greatly aided by having beautifully written roles and the touching music of Ernest Gold. Werner received recognition for his performance from the New York Critic's Circle. At one point she asks him 'Are you happy?' His response 'Who is?' has a world of meaning. Mention has to be made of Vivien Leigh who plays a lady 'entre deux ages' as the French diplomatically say. Kramer paid tribute to her courage in taking on the role despite her physical and mental 'problems'. Needless to say her nuanced performance oozes class. She picked up a well-deserved 'L'Etoile de Cristal' before this award was renamed the Cesar. Among the uniformly excellent performances is that of Heinz Ruemann as Lowenthal, an incorrigible optimist who has chosen to go back to Germany in 1932! When asked about his fellow German Jews he asks: 'What are they going to do, kill us all?' Ruemann's presence in this film is fascinating for although he always asserted that he was a fervent anti-Nazi he certainly had a close association with Hitler and his circle. The fact that he was one of Germany's most popular actors and was married to actress Hertha Feile who was quarter Jewish no doubt enabled him to seemlessly continue his career after the war. Despite its longeurs this is a piece that leaves a deep impression as we can all relate to the guilts and regrets of these characters. In response to Schumann's 'I haven't lived' the Captain asks 'Who has?' Sorry to say the author disliked the finished product but in the world of film adaptations that is par for the course!