Voyage of the Damned (1976)
Good grief, what were editors Tom Priestley and Desmond Saunders doing when they compiled Voyage of the Damned? The film ended up being two and a half hours, and it easily could have been ninety minutes. Each scene was painfully slow; each shot could have been cut shorter or eliminated to get to the meat of the movie quicker.
I could say that without the slow pacing of the film it would have been entertaining, but not only is that a useless “what if”, but it wouldn’t be true. Most of the acting in this film is extremely over-the-top, from the leads to the extras in the background. It’s a true story about the “good will” voyage in 1939, during which Germany sent 937 Jewish refugees to Cuba, and the disasters the political climate took on the passengers. As in all disaster movies, there’s an all star cast with equally brief screen times, giving the audience a taste of their various plights to make them endearing. Faye Dunaway, Oskar Werner, Lee Grant, Sam Wanamaker, Lynne Frederick, Wendy Hiller, Luther Adler, Julie Harris, Maria Schell, Nehemiah Persoff, and many others make up the passenger list; Max Von Sydow, Helmut Griem, and Malcom McDowell are the featured members of the crew. In Cuba, other movie stars provide cameos, including Orson Welles, Ben Gazzara, Katharine Ross, Denholm Elliott, José Ferrer, and James Mason.
The basic premise of the story is interesting from a historical perspective, about the bigwigs in Cuba, the United States, and Germany, but those portions of the film are brief compared to the different families’ on the ship screen time. A few parts were endearing, like the sweet, innocent romance between Lynne Frederick and Malcom McDowell, and Lee Grant’s Oscar-nominated (and Rag-winning!) performance, but the movie didn’t consist of those three actors and therefore couldn’t really be saved.
In short, this movie is incredibly boring and overrated. If you insist on watching it, make sure you have something else handy, like a doodle pad or someone entertaining to talk to, because you’ll need it. Just make sure you pay attention when Lee Grant is on the screen.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru. And thanks "Sonia SC" for posting!
More José Ferrer movies here!
More James Mason movies here!
I could say that without the slow pacing of the film it would have been entertaining, but not only is that a useless “what if”, but it wouldn’t be true. Most of the acting in this film is extremely over-the-top, from the leads to the extras in the background. It’s a true story about the “good will” voyage in 1939, during which Germany sent 937 Jewish refugees to Cuba, and the disasters the political climate took on the passengers. As in all disaster movies, there’s an all star cast with equally brief screen times, giving the audience a taste of their various plights to make them endearing. Faye Dunaway, Oskar Werner, Lee Grant, Sam Wanamaker, Lynne Frederick, Wendy Hiller, Luther Adler, Julie Harris, Maria Schell, Nehemiah Persoff, and many others make up the passenger list; Max Von Sydow, Helmut Griem, and Malcom McDowell are the featured members of the crew. In Cuba, other movie stars provide cameos, including Orson Welles, Ben Gazzara, Katharine Ross, Denholm Elliott, José Ferrer, and James Mason.
The basic premise of the story is interesting from a historical perspective, about the bigwigs in Cuba, the United States, and Germany, but those portions of the film are brief compared to the different families’ on the ship screen time. A few parts were endearing, like the sweet, innocent romance between Lynne Frederick and Malcom McDowell, and Lee Grant’s Oscar-nominated (and Rag-winning!) performance, but the movie didn’t consist of those three actors and therefore couldn’t really be saved.
In short, this movie is incredibly boring and overrated. If you insist on watching it, make sure you have something else handy, like a doodle pad or someone entertaining to talk to, because you’ll need it. Just make sure you pay attention when Lee Grant is on the screen.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru. And thanks "Sonia SC" for posting!
More José Ferrer movies here!
More James Mason movies here!