Saturday, March 10, 2018

Hell Ship Mutiny (1957)

Directors: Lee Sholem, Elmo Williams

Writers: DeVallon Scott, Wells Root

Composers: Paul Sawtell, Bert Shefter

Starring: Jon Hall, John Carradine, Peter Lorre, Roberta Haynes, Mike Mazurki, Charles Mauu, Stanley Adams, Danny Richards Jr.

More info: IMDb

Tagline: AN EXCITING STORY!.. Of Passionate Love...and High-Adventure in the South Pacific!

Plot: Jim Knight is the captain of a ship trading in the South Seas. He runs into trouble when he makes port at an island where crooks Malone and Ross hold the natives under their cruel domination while they seek a fortune in pearls. Knight and his crew are taken prisoners and he falls for native princess Mareva, and her non-plump charms are more than enough motivation for Knight to put an end to Malone and his henchmen, and also the the greedy police commissioner Lamoret.



My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

The IMDb trivia says that this 65 minute picture is three episodes of an unsold TV series called KNIGHT OF THE SOUTH SEAS and while watching it it's pretty obvious.  It's one story but you can feel the natural breaks after the first and second 22 minutes.  Hall is decent enough in the lead but he forgot to put that new after shave lotion called Charisma.  Fortunately we've got John Carradine in the role of the bad guy and that guy knows how to play those roles.  He's a cold murderous bastard in this one.  Something else to look forward to is Peter Lorre who wasn't too far off from having finished playing Le Chiffre in CASINO ROYALE (1954) (HELL SHIP was filmed in '55).  You know it's bad when you get a lot of narration and Hall provides plenty of that.  The action is OK as is about everything else.  The only thing that stands out is Carradine and Lorre.  It's on YouTube so check it out free for nothing if you're so inclined.

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