The Ghost Ship (1943)

Tom Merriam signs on the ship Altair as third officer under Captain Stone. At first things look good, Stone sees Merriam as a younger version of himself and Merriam sees Stone as the first adult to ever treat him as a friend. But after a couple strange deaths of crew members, Merriam begins to think Stone is a psychopathic madman obsessed with authority. He tries to tell others, but no one believes him, and it only makes Stone angry..

Director: Mark Robson. Assistant Director: Ruby Rosenberg. Script: Donald Henderson Clarke. Based on a story by Leo Mittler. Photography: Nicholas Musuraca. Editor: John Lockert. Art Directors: Albert S. D'Agostino, Walter E. Keller. Set Decorators: Darrell Silvera, Claude Carpenter. Special Effects: Vernon L. Walker. Music: Roy Webb. Musical Director: C. Bakaleinikoff. Songs: 'Blow the Man Down' (Blind Beggar and Billy Radd); 'Home Dearie Home', 'Come to San Sebastian', 'I'm Billy Radd from La Trinidad' (all Billy Radd). Costumes: Edward Stevenson. Sound Recordist: Francis M. Sarver.

Richard Dix (Captain Stone), Russell Wade (Tom Merriam), Edith Barrett (Ellen Roberts), Ben Bard (Bowns), Edmund Glover (Sparks), Skelton Knaggs (Finn), Tom Burton (Benson), Steve Winston (Ausman), Robert Bice (Raphael), Lawrence Tierny (Louie), Dewey Robinson (Boats), Charles Lung (Jim), George De Normand (John), Paul Marion (Peter), Sir Lancelot (Billy Radd), Boyd Davis (Roberts), Harry Clay (McCall), Russell Owen, John Burford, Eddie Borden, Mike Lally, and Charles Regan (Crew Members), Nolan Leary (Stenographer), Herbert Vigran (Chief Engineer), Shirley O'Hara (Silhouette Girl), Alec Craig (Blind Beggar), Bob Stevenson and Charles Norton (German Sailers), Norman Mayes (Carraige Driver).

Notes:

• Just after it was released, two authors sued, claiming that it stole their idea. The studio probably could have settled out of court, but the claim didn't seem to have much ground so they fought it. The judge decided in favor of the plaintiffs, awarding them $25,000. The movie was pulled from distribution, and hasn't been sold to TV for viewing either, so sightings have been very rare.
• As of the 1995 edition of Leonard Maltin's guide, The Ghost Ship and Youth Runs Wild are the only Lewton/RKO movies not available on both videocassette and laserdisc. However, Sean Pickett (spickett@tiac.net) recently informed me that Image Entertainment and Turner are releasing a deluxe box set of nine Val Lewton films on laserdisc, including The Ghost Ship. The other eight films are: Cat People; I Walked with a Zombie; The Leopard Man; The Seventh Victim; The Curse of the Cat People; Isle of the Dead; Bedlam and The Body Snatcher. Supplementary materials include an audio commentary by Robert Wise, pressbook materials and more.
• The ship set was built for the 1939 movie Pacific Liner, the studio wanted to make sure to get their money's worth out of it, so they directed Lewton to make a movie on it.

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