AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

AboveDeepBuggy Some things I liked some I did not.

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

MartinHafer The 1930s was a terrible decade for black actors in films in many ways. Considering the popularity of the caricatures played by the likes of Steppin Fetchit and Willie Best, it would seem that most studios saw black people as slightly less than people. There were a few examples, such as Hattie McDaniel receiving an Oscar for her performance in "Gone With the Wind" (though she did play a slave) and this film, "Slave Ship". While I wouldn't exactly call this movie the best in portraying blacks as people...it was way ahead of most films of the day.When the film begins, you see a heavy-handed scene where it's meant to illustrate that the ship in the picture is cursed. After the deaths of many of its crew due to illnesses and accidents, the ship is sold very cheaply. The new mission of this merchant ship is to illegally transport slaves to America--something banned both by the British and United Stares for most of the 19th century. Captain Lovett (Warner Baxter) and his crew are out to illegally transport more Africans to a life of slavery. The Captain seems to hate this life...but he does it and is responsible for much wickedness. As for his crew, his First Mate (Wallce Beery) seems to adore the life!Following this trip, the Captain meets a decent lady and falls in love. He decides to give up the life and go straight--transporting normal commercial goods instead of slavery. However, after order his First Mate to fire the old crew and hire all new non-slavers, he is tricked...and soon after the ship with him and his bride leaves port, he finds he is no longer in charge of the ship and the Mate intends for them to return to Africa for more slaves! At the risk of his life and that of his bride, the Captain fights his men and tries to do the right thing. But it's just him and an inexperienced woman against an entire crew! What are their chances?The acting is good and it's obvious Twentieth Century-Fox must have seen this as a premier project since it borrowed Beery and Mickey Rooney (two big stars at the time) from MGM to make this picture. The film doesn't go far enough by today's standards to preach against the evils of slavery but it is still quite compelling and worth your time. I particularly liked Beery in this one as he apparently was playing himself....and did it quite well.

greglehman My grandmother Gladys Lehman and her partner Sam Hellman were brought in to rework the script as WF was notoriously drunk and not getting it done- they finished their work and sent the script to Zanuck for final approval- the note they got back was " Can we make this movie without the Negroes?" DZGladys Lehman was born on January 24, 1892 in Gates, Oregon, USA as Gladys Collins. She was a writer, known for Meet Joe Black (1998), Death Takes a Holiday (1934) and Mexicali Rose (1929). She was married to Benjamin H. Lehman Jr. She died on April 7, 1993 in Newport Beach, California, USA.

bkoganbing I'm agreeing with the reviewer who said that William Faulkner who wrote the adapted story for the screen on which Slave Ship is based envisioned a commentary on the brutality of slavery. But I'm sure Darryl Zanuck thinking of those southern markets turned this into an adventure yarn. Later on post World War II it was 20th Century Fox that was the most daring in terms of social commentary, but not now.Warner Baxter and Wallace Beery are captain and first mate and best friends and they happen to be in the slave trading business, a business that is both illegal and declining due to British patrol vessels. Truth be told Baxter himself is sick of the misery in which he traffics. When he starts courting and marries Elizabeth Allan he decides to get out of the business.Sad to say Beery doesn't want to do that. As he correctly points out in this illegal business you don't have a crew, you sail with partners and he proves it. The rest of the story concerns Baxter and his attempt to gain back his ship and also win Allan back as well.Around this time Souls At Sea over at Paramount and MGM's Stand Up And Fight also dealt with the slave trade and slavery, Souls At Sea being the better film. Still both are better than Slave Ship though it is still a good adventure story.Interesting that Darryl Zanuck also must have paid a pretty penny to Louis B. Mayer for MGM contractees Wallace Beery and Mickey Rooney who were two of his most reliable box office performers. Rooney plays the ship's cabin boy and his role is far cry from Andy Hardy. A great tribute to his talents.Good action adventure yarn and some of the scenes involving the slaves are brutal and haunting. But this could have been a lot more.

Ron Oliver In 1860, a mutinous crew forces the captain of a former SLAVE SHIP to return to Africa for another highly profitable human cargo.Sadly neglected, this is a film with some very good elements indeed. Stirring action, a little romance, a dose of humor and a social conscious are among its strengths. Although the opening shipyard scenes have a rather lean feel to their production values - with the sparse crowd of extras and the rear projection - once the plot moves to shipboard & Africa the film's quality kicks into high gear. The climax, with its gunplay & explosions, is especially exciting. The tying of the slaves to the anchor chain - a horrendous scene - anticipates AMISTAD by about 60 years.The acting is quite good. Warner Baxter nicely underplays his role as the slaver captain who reforms upon marrying lovely Elizabeth Allan. Rumpled Wallace Beery as the First Mate & spunky Mickey Rooney as a disillusioned cabin boy are a great acting team and tremendous fun to watch. Beery was an actor who could steal a scene from anyone (except the late Marie Dressler), but he almost meets his match in Rooney. The Kid shows the vivacity & talent which would soon catapult him to Hollywood's top box office star.Joseph Schildkraut scores in a flamboyant role as a foreign slave trader. Jane Darwell is funny in her few moments as Miss Allan's tough old mother. George Sanders plays a sophisticated mutineer & Edwin Maxwell is a nervous auctioneer. The massive Jane Jones is striking - literally - as a Virginia saloonkeeper who refuses to take nonsense from anyone.In unbilled roles, movie mavens should recognize Lon Chaney, Jr. as a most unfortunate dock worker, and young Matthew `Stymie' Beard, of OUR GANG fame, as a boy on the wharf.It is ironic, even with the film's sentiment for decent behavior towards Blacks, that 1930's Hollywood was still utterly racist and did not promote equal treatment for African-American performers (Asian actors fared little better). The Studios were still very segregated, Black & White stars rarely socialized on an equal footing, and racial stereotypes abounded in the movie plots. Only occasionally did Black performers' names appear in the credits and then usually at the bottom of the list. SLAVE SHIP preaches a good sermon, but the Hollywood congregation still needed to wake up & deal with its own intolerant behavior.