Ship of Fools (B&W) [VHS]

Ship of Fools (B&W) [VHS]
by Stanley Kramer

Ship of Fools (B&W) [VHS]

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Product details

Actor: Jos? Ferrer, Lee Marvin, Oskar Werner, Simone Signoret, Vivien Leigh
Director: Stanley Kramer
Cinematographer: Ernest Laszlo
Editor: Robert C. Jones
Writer: Katherine Anne Porter
Writer: Abby Mann
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog; German (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, HiFi Sound, NTSC
Running Time: 150 minutes
Release Date: 1997-09-26
Publisher: Columbia Pictures Corporation
Studio: Columbia Pictures Corporation

VHS Movie Reviews of Ship of Fools (B&W) [VHS]

Movie Review: Careful - Full Screen Rather than the Original Aspect Ratio
Summary: 1 Stars

I just received my DVD copy of Ship of Fools & was disappointed that it is presented in the hackneyed, butchered Standard/Full Screen rather than respecting the original aspect ratio. Such tampering/butchering should be illegal. It's not only a rippoff to the film's admires but its being sold without clearly warning the customer.

Movie Review: A real klunker: over-obvious and overlong
Summary: 2 Stars

A socially conscious would-be epic, from back in the days When Art Mattered. The story takes place on a German ocean liner in the early 1930s, traveling from Mexico back to Der Fatherland, with an all-star cast of Spaniards, Americans, Jews, drunks, dwarves, exiles, tortured artists and Germans -- both good and bad -- all sailing towards their date with Destiny. Honestly, I could only force myself to watch about two-thirds of the way through, and then I had to admit I was stone cold bored, and besides, the rental was already one day overdue and it was getting close to closing time. This isn't a bad movie, but its earnest, over-serious style of presentation felt very dated, and I could see where the plot was headed from a mile away. Some fine character actors, but kind of a lumpy, klunky script. (Axton)

Movie Review: The world is a "Ship of Fools"
Summary: 5 Stars

Just excellent. They don't make movies like this anymore and it is a shame.

Movie Review: "S * O * S"
Summary: 5 Stars

This is a great little obscure film--full of wonderful character actors, a stellar performance by Michael Dunn, little person. If you have wondered about Vivien Leigh as Scarlet O'Hara, well this proves that the lady could truly act, was a master at her craft. Lee Marvin is great, as always, though this is an unusual role for him to play. The movie is basically about the characters--the people on the ship, their internal dramas that are breaking to the surface. Giant results from a low budget. It CAN be done.

Movie Review: A Four Star Movie
Summary: 3 Stars

There certainly are enough fools to go around on this ship that sailed from Mexico to Germany in 1933. Based on the novel of the same name by Katherine Anne Porter,and directed by Stanley Kramer with a screenplay written by Abby Mann, "Ship of Fools" has a stellar cast including Vivien Leigh, Lee Marvin, George Segal, Elizabeth Ashley, Jose Ferrer, Simone Signoret and Oskar Werner.

Even though the film was released in 1965, it would certainly still be worth watching for what it says about the evils and supidity of racism, anti-semitism and xenophobia alone. Heinz Ruhmann plays a gentle man who is forbidden to sit at the captain's table because he is Jewish and must sit at a table with only Michael Dunn, who is a cigar-smoking humorous dwarf, another outsider. Ruhmann in a particularly poignant scene speaks of his love for Germany and reminds us that there are a million Jews in Germany. "What are they going to do? They can't kill us all."

In addition to the anti-semitism thread that runs through the film, unhappy people in both love and life abound, and at times the plot looks like a precursor to the television series "Love Boat." A lot of things happen aboard ship that stays on the ship. Vivien Leigh is the divorced Southern belle on the wrong side of 40 in a role reminiscent of Blanche in "A Streetcar Named Desire." I for one am glad that, since this was her last movie, that she laid that character to rest permanently. The film ultimately belongs to Simone Signoret and Oskar Werner in particular who meet on the ship and become involved in an ill-fated relationship. When I do not see Werner in a film for a long time, I forget just what a magnificent actor he is.

Since it is impossible to change a star rating once you have previewed your review, I cannot change the error I made of giving this film three stars without deleting my review and starting all over. The film, in my humble opinion, certainly deserves four (4) stars.

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Summary of Ship of Fools (B&W) [VHS]

An all-star drama in the grandest of Hollywood traditions, Ship of Fools is now a glossy, Oscar?-nominated relic from a bygone era, when actors were valued more than special effects. "Prestige" is the keyword in describing this high-toned Stanley Kramer production, and the passage of time brings the pros and cons of Kramer's filmmaking into stark relief. In adapting Katherine Anne Porter's acclaimed novel set aboard a German liner sailing from Mexico to Germany, Kramer and screenwriter Abby Mann (who shifted the story from 1931 to 1933) attempted to display the oncoming horror of Nazi Germany in microcosm, as represented by the ship's colorful variety of passengers, including maritally combative artists (George Segal, Elizabeth Ashley); a has-been baseball star (Lee Marvin); a pair of illicit lovers (Oskar Werner, Simone Signoret); a despondent divorc?e (Vivien Leigh, shockingly garish in her final film); and several others who play symbolic roles with varying degrees of obviousness. Porter's potent themes are somewhat deflated by Kramer's pompous, heavy-handed approach, but powerful acting remains. Having lost what relevance it had in 1965, Ship of Fools is still fascinating as a showcase for well-drawn characters (including an observant dwarf, played by the late, great Michael Dunn) whose inner lives and outward interactions reflect a turbulent world irrevocably headed for war. --Jeff Shannon

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