Wednesday 29 January 2014

Ship of Fools (1965 Stanley Kramer & prod)

1933. German liner sails home from Mexico, captained by Charles Korvin, with Oskar Werner as ship's doctor. Passengers include Vivien Leigh, Simone Signoret, George Segal and Elizabeth Ashley, Lee Marvin, José Ferrer, Heinz Rühmann (who - echoing another character's story - really did marry then divorce a Jewish woman, and was a favourite actor of Hitler) and dwarf Michael Dunn (No Way to Treat a Lady), who is the most likeable character.


Heinz Rühmann and Martin Dunn

Long film is lumpy like an old bed: all the plot is developed through talk, and the bigger scenes such as those involving Spanish refugees seem turgid.

Its fairly ordinary photography won Ernest Laszlo an Oscar. Werner, Signoret and Dunn deserved their nominations.

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