Ghost Ship (Original title)
Date: 09 February 1953 (Release)Country: United KingdomDirector: Vernon Sewell
Synopsis: Supernatural mystery. Margaret and Guy Thornton have come to live in England after a time living in the USA (Guy works for a Canada-based company). They hope to live on a steamship, and they buy one called the "Cyclops" despite the yacht yard manager's warning them that she was found at sea with nobody aboard and is reputed to be haunted. They fix the ship up and throw a party aboard for friends, to celebrate its launch. Unease creeps in though as they begin to get intimations that the haunting stories could be true, such as an inexplicable smell of cigar smoke (which only some people can detect), and an unaccountable presence in the engine room, which leads to problems with retaining crew. When Guy himself encounters a man smoking in the engine room, who then seems to vanish, the couple decide to call in a paranormal investigation firm. Dr Fawcett duly visits them and reassures them that paranormal manifestations are reasonable to believe in. Fawcett decides to enlist a medium, Mrs Manley, who comes aboard and 'sees' in a vision the explanation: the previous owner, Martineau, was plotted against by his wife and her lover, Peter. Accidentally tumbling to their plot, Martineau murderously turned the tables on them and fled. The investigators find proof hidden aboard that this account is true, and one more mystery, involving the crew, is cleared up in a way which leaves the reality of the haunting as open-ended. The Thorntons live on happily on the "Cyclops".
Genres: Horror, Thriller
Subjects: Psychic powers, Ships, Homicide, Ghosts
Releases
Date: 1952Country: United KingdomRelease type: unknownFormat: 35mm Film - Black and White - SoundRuntime: 74 mins Length: 6723 FeetDialogue (original): English
Title: [Variety - 22 Jul 1953: no known title]Language: English
Description: Rev.
In: Motion Picture Herald v192 n4 25 Jul 1953 Page: 1927
Title: [Motion Picture Herald - v192 n4 25 Jul 1953: no known title]Language: English
In: The Cine-Technician v19 n100 Jan/Feb 1953 Page: 13
Title: [The Cine-Technician - v19 n100 Jan/Feb 1953: no known title]Article type: CreditsLanguage: English
Description: Credits.
In: Today's Cinema v78 n6501 12 May 1952 Page: 5
Title: [Today's Cinema - v78 n6501 12 May 1952: no known title]Language: English
In: Today's Cinema v79 n6612 16 Oct 1952 Page: 7
Title: [Today's Cinema - v79 n6612 16 Oct 1952: no known title]Language: English
Description: Rev.
In: Monthly Film Bulletin v19 n227 December 1952 Page: 178
Title: [Monthly Film Bulletin - v19 n227 December 1952: no known title]Language: English
In: Kinematograph Weekly n2365 23 Oct 1952 Page: 27
Title: [Kinematograph Weekly - n2365 23 Oct 1952: no known title]Language: English
Date: 09 February 1953 (Release)Country: United KingdomDirector: Vernon Sewell
Synopsis: Supernatural mystery. Margaret and Guy Thornton have come to live in England after a time living in the USA (Guy works for a Canada-based company). They hope to live on a steamship, and they buy one called the "Cyclops" despite the yacht yard manager's warning them that she was found at sea with nobody aboard and is reputed to be haunted. They fix the ship up and throw a party aboard for friends, to celebrate its launch. Unease creeps in though as they begin to get intimations that the haunting stories could be true, such as an inexplicable smell of cigar smoke (which only some people can detect), and an unaccountable presence in the engine room, which leads to problems with retaining crew. When Guy himself encounters a man smoking in the engine room, who then seems to vanish, the couple decide to call in a paranormal investigation firm. Dr Fawcett duly visits them and reassures them that paranormal manifestations are reasonable to believe in. Fawcett decides to enlist a medium, Mrs Manley, who comes aboard and 'sees' in a vision the explanation: the previous owner, Martineau, was plotted against by his wife and her lover, Peter. Accidentally tumbling to their plot, Martineau murderously turned the tables on them and fled. The investigators find proof hidden aboard that this account is true, and one more mystery, involving the crew, is cleared up in a way which leaves the reality of the haunting as open-ended. The Thorntons live on happily on the "Cyclops".
Genres: Horror, Thriller
Subjects: Psychic powers, Ships, Homicide, Ghosts
Releases
Date: 1952Country: United KingdomRelease type: unknownFormat: 35mm Film - Black and White - SoundRuntime: 74 mins Length: 6723 FeetDialogue (original): English
Credits
(15)
Presents: Nat Cohen, Presents: Stuart Levy, World Distribution by: Anglo Amalgamated Film Distributors Ltd., Produced by: Vernon Sewell, Associate Producer: Henry Geddes, Written by: Vernon Sewell, Additional Dialogue by: Philip Thornton, Photographed by: Stanley Grant, Film Editor: Francis Bieber, Art Director: George Haslam, Music Score by: Eric Spear, Sound Recordist: R.S.W. Smith, Sound System: Western Electric Recording, Interior Sequences Made at: Merton Park Studios
Cast
(28)
Hazel Court (Margaret), Dermot Walsh (Guy), Hugh Burden (Dr Fawcett), John Robinson ('Mancel', Martineau), Joss Ambler (yard manager), Joan Carol (Mrs Martineau), Hugh Latimer (Peter), Laidman Browne (coroner), Mignon O'Doherty (Mrs Manley), Meadows White (surveyor), Pat McGrath (Bert), Joss Ackland (Ron), John King Kelly (Sid), Colin Douglas (1st engineer), Jack Stewart (2nd engineer), Anthony Marlowe (Selter (Lloyd's surveyor)), Geoffrey Dunn (strange passenger), Ian Carmichael (Bernard, tipsy hornpipe dancer), Anthony Hayes (pianist), Barry Phelps (steward), Robert Moore (police inspector), Ewen Solon (plain clothes man), Jock Finlay (policeman), Madoline Thomas (housekeeper), Graham Stuart (1st guest), Gordon Bell (2nd guest), Patricia Owens (Joyce), Melissa Stribling (Vera)
Articles held in BFI Reuben Library
(7)
In: Variety 22 Jul 1953Title: [Variety - 22 Jul 1953: no known title]Language: English
Description: Rev.
In: Motion Picture Herald v192 n4 25 Jul 1953 Page: 1927
Title: [Motion Picture Herald - v192 n4 25 Jul 1953: no known title]Language: English
In: The Cine-Technician v19 n100 Jan/Feb 1953 Page: 13
Title: [The Cine-Technician - v19 n100 Jan/Feb 1953: no known title]Article type: CreditsLanguage: English
Description: Credits.
In: Today's Cinema v78 n6501 12 May 1952 Page: 5
Title: [Today's Cinema - v78 n6501 12 May 1952: no known title]Language: English
In: Today's Cinema v79 n6612 16 Oct 1952 Page: 7
Title: [Today's Cinema - v79 n6612 16 Oct 1952: no known title]Language: English
Description: Rev.
In: Monthly Film Bulletin v19 n227 December 1952 Page: 178
Title: [Monthly Film Bulletin - v19 n227 December 1952: no known title]Language: English
In: Kinematograph Weekly n2365 23 Oct 1952 Page: 27
Title: [Kinematograph Weekly - n2365 23 Oct 1952: no known title]Language: English