Although Val Lewton's production team was renowned for crafting powerful, moody films on low budgets from second-hand sets, "The Ghost Ship" proves that they couldn't pull it off every time.
The story is packed with incidents and characters, but at no point does it live up to the image evoked by the title, despite an eerie Roy Webb score. Apparently the film was forced out of circulation for 50 years after charges of plagiarism were upheld. But why anyone would be so passionate about claiming ownership of this unexciting story would have to be a more intriguing mystery than the one contained in the screenplay.
Tom Merriam, played by Russell Wade, joins a cargo ship as the third officer. On board, Merriam meets a mute seaman whose thoughts are projected to the audience. This is one of the odd touches that throw the film off kilter from the start. Later Merriam meets Captain Stone played by Richard Dix who gives him a warm welcome. Adding another odd note is the fact that Russell Wade and Dix resemble each other physically.
After a number of incidents, Merriam believes that Captain Stone has authority issues, namely that he believes he is always right no matter what the circumstances. Meriam suspects that the captain has killed a sailor who confronted him about seafaring rules. When they reach port, he reports his suspicions to the shipping company. An inquiry is held but the Captain is cleared and it looks as if Merriam is the one who is going mad. Merriam resigns from the ship.
Before he can make the final break he meets Ellen, a woman who has an emotional attachment to the Captain, and who also becomes the catalyst for exposing the Captain's true mental state. Before the film ends, Merriam finds himself back under the captain's control, but the intervention of the mute seaman proves crucial.
"The Ghost Ship" is not unlike a filmed stage play. The most reliable and best-used prop in all Lewton's films is the door. No matter how lacklustre the sets – and those in "The Ghost Ship" are the bare minimum – doors always gave Lewton full value for their inclusion. Often closed, they tend to draw the viewers eye away from defects and deficiencies. Mark Robson, the director, knew how to extract full power from the 'wood in the hole' and how to heighten audience expectations about what lies beyond – doors help create tension in the few effective passages in "The Ghost Ship".
Ingmar Bergman believed that the essential quality needed for an actor to become a star is danger. This is not a discernible trait amongst the cast of "The Ghost Ship". In fact, Richard Dix doesn't even seem dangerous when he is attacking someone with a 12-inch knife. And, therein lies the film's major defect, the lack of a sense of danger. Possibly if the Captain had not been revealed as the culprit so early the film may have been more successful, but the filmmakers seemed more interested in the psychological aspects and the loneliness of command.
Although many reviewers admire this movie, I don't feel that it measures up to Lewton classics such as "Cat People" and "The Seventh Victim" or even to the later "The Body Snatchers" and "Bedlam". But then again, not too many films including some of his own have managed to capture the atmosphere and sense of mystery of a Val Lewton film at its very best.
The story is packed with incidents and characters, but at no point does it live up to the image evoked by the title, despite an eerie Roy Webb score. Apparently the film was forced out of circulation for 50 years after charges of plagiarism were upheld. But why anyone would be so passionate about claiming ownership of this unexciting story would have to be a more intriguing mystery than the one contained in the screenplay.
Tom Merriam, played by Russell Wade, joins a cargo ship as the third officer. On board, Merriam meets a mute seaman whose thoughts are projected to the audience. This is one of the odd touches that throw the film off kilter from the start. Later Merriam meets Captain Stone played by Richard Dix who gives him a warm welcome. Adding another odd note is the fact that Russell Wade and Dix resemble each other physically.
After a number of incidents, Merriam believes that Captain Stone has authority issues, namely that he believes he is always right no matter what the circumstances. Meriam suspects that the captain has killed a sailor who confronted him about seafaring rules. When they reach port, he reports his suspicions to the shipping company. An inquiry is held but the Captain is cleared and it looks as if Merriam is the one who is going mad. Merriam resigns from the ship.
Before he can make the final break he meets Ellen, a woman who has an emotional attachment to the Captain, and who also becomes the catalyst for exposing the Captain's true mental state. Before the film ends, Merriam finds himself back under the captain's control, but the intervention of the mute seaman proves crucial.
"The Ghost Ship" is not unlike a filmed stage play. The most reliable and best-used prop in all Lewton's films is the door. No matter how lacklustre the sets – and those in "The Ghost Ship" are the bare minimum – doors always gave Lewton full value for their inclusion. Often closed, they tend to draw the viewers eye away from defects and deficiencies. Mark Robson, the director, knew how to extract full power from the 'wood in the hole' and how to heighten audience expectations about what lies beyond – doors help create tension in the few effective passages in "The Ghost Ship".
Ingmar Bergman believed that the essential quality needed for an actor to become a star is danger. This is not a discernible trait amongst the cast of "The Ghost Ship". In fact, Richard Dix doesn't even seem dangerous when he is attacking someone with a 12-inch knife. And, therein lies the film's major defect, the lack of a sense of danger. Possibly if the Captain had not been revealed as the culprit so early the film may have been more successful, but the filmmakers seemed more interested in the psychological aspects and the loneliness of command.
Although many reviewers admire this movie, I don't feel that it measures up to Lewton classics such as "Cat People" and "The Seventh Victim" or even to the later "The Body Snatchers" and "Bedlam". But then again, not too many films including some of his own have managed to capture the atmosphere and sense of mystery of a Val Lewton film at its very best.