The Ghost Ship (1943)

And knives. There are a lot of knives at sea. The Ghost Ship opens portentously, as the idealistic Tom Merriam (Russell Wade) goes to board his new post, the cargo ship Altair. A blind chantey singer outside a knife shop hints at what a bad ship the Altair is, and then there's the taciturn crewman Finn (Skelton Knaggs) sharpening his knife at the gangplank, staying silent when Merriam questions him. But Finn is not being rude. As Merriam boards the ship, the camera zooms in on Finn's face for an ominous, whispery voiceover revealing him to be mute, and not highly positive about the ship's reputation. To add to the portents, one of the crew dies before the ship even sails.

At least Captain Stone (Richard Dix) seems like a regular guy, mellow and fatherly- except for that strange, compulsive smile that sometimes comes creeping across his face as he speaks. Only gradually do Stone's authoritarian ways become apparent (a sign in his cabin reads: "Who does not heed the rudder shall meet the rock"), and Merriam's good opinion of him begins to change. Dix does a good job keeping you guessing at his character's true nature.

The Ghost Ship was the first Val Lewton production at RKO without Jacques Tourneur directing (Mark Robson takes the helm instead). Perhaps for this reason, the film is less surreal, more linear, and without quite so much detail as Lewton's earlier efforts.

Detail is not entirely lacking; the varied crew all have the little touches of personality at which Lewton excelled. Standing out among them are the radio man (Edmund Glover) and Sir Lancelot, the calypso singer featured in Lewton's I Walked with a Zombie (1943). Another player returning from I Walked... is Edith Barrett as Ellen, the woman who thinks she can change Captain Stone.

The Ghost Ship was removed from circulation soon after its release due to a plagiarism lawsuit, and remained unavailable for fifty years. It's interesting to see how many similar films have been released since. The Ghost Ship is a different animal than the Lewton/Tourneur films, more straightforward and lacking the surreal air of, say, The Leopard Man. There are some nice shots of silhouetted lines and chains and smokestacks against the cloudy sea sky, but in general the cinematography is more utilitarian than artistic. While not in the same class as I Walked with a Zombie (1943) or The Body Snatcher (1945), The Ghost Ship is still enjoyable for what it is. It gets a slow start as a shipboard drama, with loose cargo hooks and other dangers of the sea, but it works its way up to a satisfying psychological thriller with a quick, pulse-pounding climax.