The Ghost Ship
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| The Ghost Ship | |
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 Promotional poster for The Ghost Ship |
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| Directed by | Mark Robson |
| Produced by | Val Lewton |
| Written by | Leo Mittler (story) Donald Henderson Clarke |
| Starring | Richard Dix Russell Wade Edith Barrett |
| Music by | Roy Webb |
| Cinematography | Nicholas Musuraca |
| Editing by | John Lockert |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 24, 1943 (USA) |
| Running time | 69 min |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Ghost Ship (1943) is a black-and-white film starring Richard Dix. The film was directed by Mark Robson and produced by Val Lewton for RKO Radio Pictures.
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[edit] Synopsis
Tom Merriam, a young officer (Wade) joins the crew of a ship, the Altair. At first all seems well and Merriam bonds with the Captain, Will Stone (Dix). However, as the cruise continues, several crewmen die mysteriously. Merriam comes to believe that Captain Stone, who is obsessed with authority, is responsible. When they dock at the first port, Merriam attempts to expose the Captain's madness but is discredited and subsequently fired. Soon after this, Merriam is involved in a fight and knocked out. One of his former shipmates (unaware that he was dismissed from the ship) finds him and returns the unconscious man to the Altair before she steams from port. Merriam wakes up on the ship and fears that the insane Captain Stone may now attempt to kill him for vengeance.
[edit] Trivia
- RKO tasked producer Lewton to make a sea-based film because the studio had a ship set already built for the film Pacific Liner in 1938.[1]
- The film's producer Lewton was sued for plagiarism by playwrights Samuel R. Golding and Norbert Faulkner who claimed that the script was based on a play that was submitted to Lewton for a possible film. Lewton disputed the claim, but the court ruled against Lewton. The Ghost Ship was withdrawn from circulation and the film was unavailable for viewing for fifty years. [2]
- The fictional Caribbean island of "San Sebastian" also appears in RKO's I Walked With a Zombie (another Lewton production) and Zombies on Broadway.
- The film was released as part of the Val Lewton Horror Collection DVD set in 2005.
[edit] Cast
- Richard Dix as Captain Will Stone
- Russell Wade as Tom Merriam, 3rd Officer
- Edith Barrett as Ellen Roberts
- Ben Bard as First Officer Bowns
- Edmund Glover as Jacob "Sparks" Winslow, radioman
- Skelton Barnaby Knaggs as Finn the Mute
[edit] See also
- Ghost Ship is an unrelated 2002 horror film.
