1949's "Captain China" is above average seagoing fare, with John Payne cementing his reputation as a rough tough sea captain (having already spent 13 years in Hollywood doing more lighthearted roles). Disgraced by the loss of his ship, China becomes a passenger aboard a vessel captained by his former first mate (Jeffrey Lynn), whose false testimony months earlier resulted in China being convicted of drunken negligence. Also on board is Red Lynch (Lon Chaney), the man who locked the unconscious China in the hold, figuring he'd wash up dead on the reef. Both men quickly wind up at each other's throats, the burly, brawling Chaney one of the few actors in Hollywood who could hold his own against the handsome Payne (they later worked together again in 1953's "Raiders of the Seven Seas"). Things slow to a crawl after that, Gail Russell supplying the necessary love interest, until the climactic typhoon, enabling Captain China to prove his worth in the clutch once and for all. John Qualen plays Chaney's confederate, and Edgar Bergen plays a mild mannered passenger gently comforting his nervous wife.
Review of Captain China
