Slave Ship (film)

Slave Ship
Directed by	Tay Garnett
Written by	William Faulkner (story)
Screenplay by	Sam Hellman Lamar Trotti Gladys Lehman
Based on	The Last Slaver by George S. King
Produced by	Darryl F. Zanuck
Starring	Warner Baxter Wallace Beery Elizabeth Allan Mickey Rooney George Sanders Jane Darwell Joseph Schildkraut
Cinematography	Ernest Palmer
Edited by	Lloyd Nosler
Music by	Alfred Newman
Production company	20th Century Fox
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	June 12, 1937 (1937-06-12)
Running time	100 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Slave Ship is a 1937 American historical adventure film directed by Tay Garnett and starring Warner Baxter, Wallace Beery and Elizabeth Allan. The supporting cast features Mickey Rooney, George Sanders, Jane Darwell, and Joseph Schildkraut. It is one of very few films out of the forty-eight that Beery made during the sound era for which he did not receive top billing.

Plot

Captain Jim Lovett (Baxter), back from a slave run, meets and marries Nancy Marlowe (Allen). He determines to quit the slave trade and buy a plantation in Jamaica. He orders his crew discharged, but his first mate, Jack Thompson (Beery) disobeys and takes the ship to sea on another expedition with Lovett, Allen, and the slave crew aboard without Lovett's knowledge. Once at sea the crew takes the ship from Lovett, and forces him to sail to Africa by threats to his wife.

In Africa they load a cargo of slaves and leave Lovett ashore, but he makes it back to the ship and captures the wheel, chart house, and guns. He makes for the British island of St. Helena, where he is arrested as a slaver. Thompson attempts to trick Lovett using Swifty (Rooney), but he remains loyal. The climax ends with the ship burning, Thompson and most of the crew dead, and the slaves freed.

Lovett is tried, but is freed after an appeal by his wife. In the end the couple and Swifty arrive in Jamaica to begin life at the plantation.

Cast

• Warner Baxter as Jim Lovett
• Wallace Beery as Jack Thompson
• Elizabeth Allan as Nancy Marlowe
• Mickey Rooney as Swifty
• George Sanders as Lefty
• Jane Darwell as Mrs. Marlowe
• Joseph Schildkraut as Danelo
• Miles Mander as Corey
• Arthur Hohl as Grimes
• Douglas Scott as Young Boy at Launching
• Minna Gombell as Mabel
• Billy Bevan as Atkins
• Francis Ford as Scraps
• Jane Jones as Ma Belcher
• J. Farrell MacDonald as Proprietor
• J. P. McGowan as Helmsman
• DeWitt Jennings as Snodgrass
• Paul Hurst as Drunk
• Dorothy Christy as Blonde
• Charles B. Middleton as Slave Dealer
• Dewey Robinson as Bartender
• Holmes Herbert as Commander
• Edwin Maxwell as Auctioneer
• Herbert Heywood as Old Man at Launching
• Winter Hall as Minister
• Marilyn Knowlden as Christener at Launching
• Arthur Aylesworth as Stranger

Reception

Writing for Night and Day in 1937, Graham Greene gave the film a mixed review, finding fault with the "slow-motion emotions" of Warner Baxter's acting and the plot's "slowness and inevitability" whereas real life is replete with "unexpected encounter[s]". Nevertheless, Greene opined that "[Slave-Ship] isn't a bad film, [and] it has excellent moments". Chief amongst these moments, Greene praised the knife-throwing scenes and the general acting of Wallace Beery.

Motion Picture Daily writes "To young [Mickey] Rooney must go performance honors, since he comes close to stealing the picture. It may be considered unfortunate the he is made to appear such a young ruffian."

External links

• Slave Ship at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• Slave Ship at IMDb
• Slave Ship at the TCM Movie Database