Ship of Fools 1965

     This film is based on a novel by Katherine Anne Porter.  The setting is 1933 on a German ocean liner on a 26-day voyage from Veracruz, Mexico to Bremerhaven, Germany.  The ship stops in Cuba to pick up a large number of Spanish farm laborers being shipped home.  The guests will have staterooms but the laborers will be housed like cattle in steerage.  Also, La Condesa will be picked up in Cuba and she is a Spanish countess.  The laborers and La Condesa will be disembarking in Tenerife.  La Condesa will be sent to a German-run prison for her traitorous activities in Cuba. 

      The passengers know their lives and the choices they have made are not the best.  They resolve to change and they do for the time they are on the ship.  When they disembark, they don’t keep their resolutions but remain as they were in the beginning?  There are so many different people in the stories that sometimes it’s difficult to keep track of some of the characters?  Simone Signoret and Oskar Werner are very good in their roles.  The world will be changing soon when World War II begins!!  3 1/2* (I liked this movie)

149 min, Drama directed by Stanley Kramer with Vivien Leigh, Simone Signoret, Jose Ferrer, Lee Marvin, Oskar Werner, Elizabeth Ashley, George Segal, Jose Greco, Michael Dunn, Charles Korvin, Heinz Ruhmann, Lilia Skala, BarBara Luna.

Note:  Imdb 7.2 out of 10, 81% critic 78% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.4* out of 5* with 130 reviews, TCM average user review 3.75* out of 5*.

Special Note:  Vivien Leigh had bouts of depression, alcoholism and she was abrasive to other actors.  She also complained about Lee Marvin’s stale alcohol breath?  This was the final film for Vivien and she died July 8, 1967 at the age of 53.  Katharine Hepburn was cast in the role played by Vivien but Spencer Tracy was in bad health.  Tracy visited the set regularly and he was a friend of the director Stanley Kramer.

Awards in 1966:  Academy Award Simone Signoret Best Actress, Oskar Werner Best Actor, Stanley Kramer Best Picture, Michael Dunn Supporting, Abby Mann Adapted Screenplay, Jean Louis and Bill Thomas Best Costume Design; Golden Globe Stanley Kramer Best Picture, Oskar Werner Best Actor, Simone Signoret Best Actress; BAFTA Oskar Werner, Simone Signoret; Writers Guild Abby Mann Best Writing.