The Ghost Ship

The Ghost Ship (1943)

MYSTERY TERROR!

Captain Stone's newly recruited officer, Tom Merriam, idolizes his senior who treats him like a friend. But when a couple of his crew members die mysteriously, Tom starts doubting Stone's authority.

Date of release
1943-12-16
TMDB
6.3 / 10 (76)
Runtime
1h 9m
Genres
Thriller, Mystery, Drama
Director
Mark Robson

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Budget: $150K

The Ghost Ship is a 1943 American black-and-white psychological thriller film starring Richard Dix and directed by Mark Robson. It was produced by Val Lewton for RKO Radio Pictures as part of a series of low-budget horror films. The film can be seen as a "low-key psychological thriller", a "suspense drama", and a "waterlogged melodrama". Russell Wade, Edith Barrett, Ben Bard and Edmund Glover appear in support.

Production

RKO had scored a major financial success with Cat People (1942). The film cost only $141,659, yet brought in almost $4 million in its first two years and saved the studio from financial disaster. RKO wanted to move quickly on a sequel to build on the success of Cat People, but producer Val Lewton wished to make the fantasy-comedy story "The Amorous Ghost" instead.

At the time screenwriting began, Lewton claimed that the idea for the film was an original one attributable to himself. Leo Mittler did the treatment and Donald Henderson Clarke wrote the script, although Lewton significantly revised the screenplay and wrote many lines of dialogue himself.

Mark Robson was assigned to direct in June 1943. Robson was the RKO director "most in tune with [Lewton's] idea of psychological terror". Robson had just finished editing Orson Welles' Journey Into Fear, and there are distinct stylistic similarities between the two films.

Production began on 3 August 1943. Many details about the performances, lighting, camera angles, action, and effects were worked out ahead of time in order to not only keep the film under budget but also help achieve suspense on such a low budget. Dr. Jared Criswell, former pastor of the Fifth Avenue Spiritualist Church of New York City, served as a technical consultant on the film regarding psychic phenomena.

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