Director Mark Robson and producer Val Lewton team up one more time for this interesting film that surprisingly has nothing at all to do with ghosts or any other supernatural phenomena. Russel Wade takes his new officer position aboard a boat under the control of Captain Richard Dix. Dix outwardly seems gentle and benign but slowly dissipates into a mad man obsessed with his control aboard the ship. Obsessed to the point of killing. Though not what you might initially expect, this film is very effectively done. Wade and Dix both do splendid jobs assaying their respective roles. Dix in particular shows depth of character that manages to not seem one-dimensional. The life on the ship seems very real, and we the audience are lassoed into the trip that begins peaceful and ends in a tempest of turmoil. Robson, under Lewton's watchful eyes, creates suspense and tension while using virtually no budget and little action. There are some obvious corollaries made to Moby Dick. The blind soothsayer at the beginning of the journey foretelling doom ahead for the voyage. The young, new man with little real-life experience as the protagonist, and a captain bent on chasing his own white whale - his meaningless existence on the big sea as he clutches for the only thing within his grasp. A fine, thoughtful examination of life at sea when office politics turn bad.
Review of The Ghost Ship
