Ship of Fools (1965)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Sadly Over-hyped

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

In 1933, a German passenger vessel leaves Veracruz, Mexico to navigate to Cuba, Tenerife, Spain and Bremerhaven, Germany as final destination along twenty-six days. The Captain Thiele (Charles Korvin) is a good friend of the ship's doctor Wilhelm Schumann (Oskar Werner), who has a serious heart problem. The first-class passengers are the lonely American Mary Treadwell (Vivien Leigh); the bigoted Siegfried Rieber (Jose Ferrer) that woos the futile Lizzi Spoekenkieker (Christiane Schmidtmer); the rude American player Bill Tenny (Lee Marvin); the aspiring painter David (George Segal) and his girlfriend Jenny (Elizabeth Ashley) that financially supports him; the gypsy dancer Pepe (Jose Greco) and his troupe of prostitutes posing of dancers; the dwarf Karl Glocken (Michael Dunn); the Jew Julius Lowenthal (Heinz Ruehmann); the German Freytag (Alf Kjellin) that was married to a Jewish woman; and a weird couple that treats their dog as a son. In Cuba, Spanish sugar farm laborers embark to travel to Tenerife and are left in steerage. La Condesa (Simone Signoret) also embarks accused of treachery and soon Dr. Schumann and she fall in love with each other. Along the journey, the best and the worst of each passenger is disclosed. "Ship of Fools" is a messy soap opera about impossible love, prejudice and other things. The story has several senseless subplots, most of them boring or silly, basically trying to show the basis of the Nazi Party. The outstanding cast deserved a better screenplay. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "A Nau dos Insensatos" ("The Ship of the Unwise")

Stanley Kramer made some really great films in the 50s and 60s, but this ain't one of 'em. The film suffers from an over-pretentious egotism about existential angst and finding meaning in a meaningless existence—really tired fair, especially when it is not done well. The really tired, dated subplot is that of David (George Segal) and Jenny (Elizabeth Ashley). Their silly conversations about gender roles, self expression, and "belonging together" get really old very fast. The thread dealing with Lowenthal, Glocken, and Rieber is the most relevant, entertaining, and thought provoking. Lowenthal is the most telling role of the film. A truly tragic figure who has no idea of the enormity of his delusions about being a German Jew in 1933.But the whole thing is a mess when all is said and done. The thread about Wilhelm and La Condesa is really a waste, since I can't imagine leaving my dog for the mega-frumpy Simone Signoret, never mind a wife and two sons. Oskar Werner is very genuine, but Signoret is her usual over-rated, tedious self. The two performances just don't mesh, and the result does not ring true.Tenny (Lee Marvin) really is an ape, as Mrs. Treadwell observes. A truly ugly American in the most stereotypical sense. The thread dealing with the wheelchair preacher, his nephew, and the flamenco whore seemed really worthless to me, just a cheap shot by Kramer at religion and morality. But the acting really is brilliant all around, I must admit. Leigh is especially poignant as Mrs. Treadwell, probably the meatiest role in this film. She is thoroughly reprehensible, and without sympathetic appeal. And yet….. we pity her even if she won't pity herself.

Only a fool would find something to criticize about "Ship of Fools." This gem from Stanley Kramer has some of the most fascinating/interesting characters ever to grace the screen. It has an all star cast, and all the stars shine brightly.This barely pre-Nazi film is intriguing from the very beginning to the very end.The relationships of all involved are quite real, the actors involved getting very involved with their portrayals. It is hard to single any one of them out. The casting is perfect.You love or hate the characters. There is no room for indifference on this "Ship Of Fools."

Stanley Kramer's adaptation of Katherine Porter's novel is epic is scope, but not at the expense of character development. In fact, this is Kramer's least bloated film. Viewing a pre-WWII world in microcosm on board a liner traveling from Mexico to Bremerhaven, SHIP OF FOOLS is at various times bleak and lighthearted, but always compelling. Kramer and scriptwriter Abby Mann take Porter's hefty tome and pare it down to an ironic bare-bones masterpiece. Oskar Werner and Simone Signoret head the cast as the ship's less than enthused doctor and a down on her luck contessa. They're both excellent, with Werner epitomizes the disengaged German seemingly unconcerned about the growing tide of horror in his homeland. Signoret has never been as touching or earthy. They're ably supported by a terrific cast: George Segal and Elizabeth Ashley as hot-headed American artists, Lee Marvin as a blustery pro ballplayer, Jose Ferrer as Werner's Jew-hating doppelganger. Vivian Leigh is the ship's lost soul and Michael Dunn is a the Greek chorus, commenting wryly on the boatload of fools. Featuring great art direction, excellent B&W cinematography by Ernest Laszlo and some of Kramer's finest direction. Lilia Skala and Jose Greco are in it too.