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Vessel of Wrath

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6.7/10 • 10

1938-03-041h 32m

ComedyDramaRomance

HE'S GONE TO THE DOGS...And He Likes It!

Ginger Ted, AKA Edward Claude Wilson, a drunkard and womanizer, and Miss Jones, a missionary, live in the Alas Islands. During a cholera epidemic, Ginger Ted and Miss Jones are sent to an outlying part of the islands to run a hospital; on their return, their motorboat breaks down, and they are marooned overnight on a small island.

Directors
Erich Pommer

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Charles Laughton

    Charles Laughton

    Ginger Ted

  2. Elsa Lanchester

    Elsa Lanchester

    Martha Jones

  3. Robert Newton

    Robert Newton

    The Controleur

  4. Tyrone Guthrie

    Tyrone Guthrie

    Dr Owen Jones

  5. Eliot Makeham

    Eliot Makeham

    The Native Head Clerk

  6. Dolly Mollinger

    Dolly Mollinger

    Lia

  7. D.A. Ward

    D.A. Ward

    Albert

  8. J. Solomon

    J. Solomon

    Sgt. Henrik

Reviews1

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Nov 3, 2024

6/10

Maybe not one of W. Somerset Maugham's more complex stories, but it still gives us a chance to watch Robert Newton, Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester give us a bit of the reverse "Sadie Thompson". It's the unlikable "Ginger Ted" (Laughton) who manages to upset the rather puritanical "Martha" (Lanchester) and her minister-brother "Owen" (Tyrone Guthrie). She demands that local magistrate (Newton) throw the book at him after his latest drunken outburst, but the wily old administrator sees an opportunity to ensure peace breaks out by managing to have the pair stranded on a remote island amidst his Indonesian archipelago - and maybe the two can get past their initial mutual loathing and find some common ground? It's a bit too long, even at ninety minutes, and much of it struggles against a background of ropey production and poor editing, but there are some funs scenes between an on-form and perfectly plausible Laughton and a Lanchester whose character you would cross at your peril - even if you were completely sozzled. It does rather peddle the superiority of the Christian faith as against those more pagan traditions held by the natives, but in it's aggressive piousness lies some of it's best humour - especially now it's eighty-odd years later and we can use new eyes to poke fun at it's daftness. Newton's accent isn't the best, but fans of characterful cinema might enjoy these three - and Erich Pommer - having a bit of fun in the sun (though clearly nowhere near the actual South China Sea!).

Media

  • Vessel of Wrath backdrop
  • Vessel of Wrath backdrop

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
missionarydrunk