Ship of Fools (1965)
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Vivien Leigh, Simone Signoret, Oskar Werner, Heinz Ruehmann, José Ferrer
DVD Info
Release:
Dec 2, 2003
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Keep Case
- Pan & Scan - 1.33
Audio:
- Dolby Digital Stereo - English
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Reviews
Superb acting in an Abby Mann script that seldom descends into bathos.
Director-producer Stanley Kramer and scenarist Abby Mann have distilled the essence of Katherine Anne Porter's bulky novel in a film that appeals to the intellect and the emotions.
Prestigious and literary cinema at its most ponderous, transfer of Porter's novel to the the big screen by Kramer (the wrong director) is crude and pretentious, but some of the performances, particularly Signoret, Leigh and Dunn, are good.
The black-and-white overlong, dated and uneven film, a less than endearing talk-fest, is rescued from drowning in a sea of words by its fine cast.
Don't look now, but as you might expect with message-mad Kramer at the helm of this adaptation of Katherine Anne Porter's novel, there's a heavy allegory aboard.
Werner and Signoret were wonderful, and deserved their nominations.
As glib as Stanley Kramer often is, there is probably nothing glibber in his entire output than this Abby Mann adaptation of Katherine Anne Porter's novel.


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