I really love this movie and will not repeat all the things that fellow posters have already mentioned but then some. Simone Signoret and Oskar Werner broke my heart, especially when she picks up a medical book to read to ill Oskar Werner and cites "Lady Chatterley" instead. Their spontanous embrace after this is one of the most moving love scenes I have ever seen. Vivian the Great does the most of the little stuff she has to do with. A shame that in her latter years she chose to play these wornout types of women (Mrs. Stone f. ex.) whereas she still had so much spunk and sexiness going for her. Her scenes are still a joy to watch, sometimes Scarlett, sometimes Blanche. Michael Dunn, Werner Klemperer, Lee Marvin and Charles Korvin are very good. The young lovers/artists are downright annoying. Whenever I saw them I remembered that French "philosopher" in "Funny Face" and it made me laugh. I don't know the book but their "artistic/sadomaso angst" is 50's, 60's stuff and they didn't add anything to the story. Elisabeth Ashley did a fine job though. Who agrees with me that she looked like a young "Rose from Upstairs-Downstairs"? And now - brace yourself - here comes a German point of view. I saw this with an English DVD (you get Hindi subtitles among others but not German ones)but I believe I understood. I still really had a hard time to figure out who would have spoken German and English and Spanish if it were for real. Funny moment when Heinz Rühmann accused José Ferrer of speaking an odd German accent (Rieder was "Bosnian, but close to the border") in English. Okay. On a more serious note I was really annoyed about the casting of Heinz Rühmann, Nazi pet who gave up his Jewish wife in real life not to get his Nazi mentors cross (I wonder what he thought of Herr Freitag, a part I would have given him). His jolly good shoes delivery of Julius Löwenthal without a second layer was terrible. Did anyone ever believe he was the bearer of the Iron Cross? As far as I know they were awarded to "war heroes". Did he put the enemy to sleep with his stories or wore them out by snoring? Gerd Fröbe, Hans Albers and a lot of other (German) actors would have added more depth to his relentless optimism and delusion. He didn't do anything with this tragic part. I really wonder what 2nd thoughts Stanley Kramer had to give Rühmann the part. José Ferrer was believable as an opportunistic gold digger who would sell for everybody for his own advantage. But that was the stuff most Nazis were made of I guess. Cudos to his German lines and the song, they were impeccable. A let down is the Spanish pimp who stressed they were no Gypsies (who were killed by the Nazis also later on) and the friendship between Spain and Germany. Yet Hitlers pal Franco did only come into power in 1936.
Review of Ship of Fools
