The Ghost Ship
Directed by Mark Robson
Written by Donald Henderson Clark from a story by Leo Mittler
1943/USA
RKO Radio Pictures
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Captain Will Stone: Well, I’ve never felt more sane in my life than I do at this moment… Who’s crazy? You, who defied me and are helpless? Or I, who control your destiny and the destiny of the ‘Altair’ and all the lives on board?[/box]
In this Val Lewton production, instead of ghosts, we get the Boss from Hell. Being trapped with him turns out to be scarier than any ghost could ever be.
After graduating from the training academy, Tom Merriam ships out for the first time as third officer (Russell Wade) on a merchant ship. Captain Will Stone (Richard Dix) welcomes Merriam with open arms and becomes almost a father figure for him. He wants to teach Tom about how to run a ship. The key lesson is the unquestionable authority of the captain. It develops that Stone has a kind of mania for authority. When Tom is forced to question the death of an outspoken shipmate under very suspicious circumstances, the die is cast.
I thought this was even scarier than The Leopard Man. You never know what is going to happen next but can be sure it will be bad. Not only is there the creepy paranoid captain but, after Merriam challenges him, the younger man cannot find a single friend on the crew. I still think Richard Dix can’t act but his detachment from the material and false jocularity was just perfect for a paranoic. A really lame ending comes out of nowhere in the last two or three minutes but by then we have had our thrills. Recommended.
Montage of clips (spoilers)
I don’t remember seeing “The Ghost Ship.” Adding to my to be viewed list.
I liked this much more than I expected to.
I have seen this film a couple of times. It is too bad that it is practically unknown since I liked it a lot.. I agree that Richard Dix could never act but he was perfect for the part of the insane captain. Plus, the film had one of the most unattractive players of all time in the cast…..Skelton Knaggs (the deaf crew member)……..and I always like to see him make an appearance; besides he got to be a good guy this time.
But who is Russell Wade? I don’t know him or am losing my memory.
I’ll have to look out for more appearances by Skelton Knaggs. I don’t know that I’ve seen him before. Wade seems to have been an extra around the same time Lewton picked him up. He didn’t have much of a career. I think this and The Body Snatcher were his highlights.
(IMO) Also somewhat famous for the moth deletion on remaster [quoted from]
https://bluray.highdefdigest.com/98601/theghostshipbedlamdoublefeature.html
‘ ….a missing moth near a lightbulb at around the 4:40 mark that may have been a casualty of overzealous remastering. There’s conjecture the insect in question might have been mistaken for a bit of print damage and thus deleted manually or by an automated computer program that might not be able to distinguish between such tiny elements and specks of dirt. When Russell Wade reaches up toward a lightbulb with cupped hands, Richard Dix stops him with the line, “You’ve no right to kill that moth,” but the lack of any moth in the frame makes the comment somewhat cryptic.’
Still unseen but on ‘The List’
Well worth its entry on your list! I like all the Val Lewton movies.