Ship of Fools

A film about prewar Europe, set aboard a ship. 1933. A passenger liner sailing from Mexico to Germany. On deck are all kinds of people: an ageing countess, a drunken doctor, a troupe of Spanish dancers, an American couple, and hundreds of labourers below. One of the passengers is a Jewish merchant. A German passenger refuses to sit at the same table and the seating is rearranged. Nobody makes an issue of it; everyone stays polite and the matter is smoothed over. That is the idea: the signs of what is coming appear at the table, in conversation and in everyday courtesy, and nobody wants to look at them. One character says it outright: these men cannot come to power, we will keep them in check. The narrative proceeds in sections and carries dozens of characters at once. The source is Katherine Anne Porter's novel. Vivien Leigh, Simone Signoret, Oskar Werner, José Ferrer and Lee Marvin are in the cast. It was Vivien Leigh's last film. Stanley Kramer directed. It received eight Oscar nominations and won two. A comprehensive production for anyone who likes classical Hollywood drama and multi-character storytelling. For a viewer who wants a tight narrative, it is long and some lines are weaker than others.