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Ship of Fools (B&W) [VHS] by Stanley Kramer
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VHS Tape Cover InformationActor: 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 (Unknown); English (Original Language); 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: Ship of Fools, and One Smart Short Guy Summary: 1 StarsThe people who gave this movie one star because it'sa presented in full-screen and not in its original aspect ratio have to remember one thing ... there's midget in this movie, the great (albeit diminutive) Michael Dunn.
Give this guy a break. Full-screen makes him that much taller. In fact, why stop there, why not have a special version of this movie where Michael Dunn is normal-size and everyone else is a dwarf.
I'd pay a few bucks to see that ... mister.
As for the movie, ahhh, what can I say. You want my opinion? You insist? I mean, other than the ratio-break we should give the short guy. ... Ahhh, what can I say: the movie's kind of "over the top," no? (And now the Oscar for Worst Over-acting in a Movie -- the entire cast of "Ship of Fools"!)
I liked the part where the "artiste" jumped overboard to save a dog. Why? Because his particular art was doing wood carvings of animals. So, get it? -- an animal, a dog, jumps overboard and he jumps in after it. And croaks, drowns. Meaning that, logically speaking, if someone threw Michael Dun overboard unless someone had done a wood carving of midgets, there'd be no one to save the little cocker.
(God, I hate logic!)
Also, how sad to see the *great* Vivian Leigh in such a nothing part. I loved that gal every since Clark Gable cursed her out in "Gone With the Wind." Or was it "Gone WIth the Wind Chill Factor"? ... One of them was on the Discovery Channel, I know that.
Then there's Lee Marvin -- who, seated, is greeted by Vivien Leigh with the line: "Don't bother to get up." Which, as we all know, is Blanche's line from "Streetcar Named Desire" ("Don't bother to get up, I'm just passing through.") I got a big kick out of that. In fact, I think "Ship of Fools" would have been a much better movie if the entire script was transferred verbatim from "Streetcar Named Desire."
I will conclude my review with a brief comment on the flamingo dancers in "Ship of Fools." ... ENOUGH ALREADY! ... All that tapping and stomping, and banging and spritzing. They gave me *such* a headache, you wouldn't believe.
Anyway, everybody on the ship was a fool. Not one smarty-pants in the crowd. And this isn't maybe a little cynical on the part of the genius-author, Katherine Anne Porter, and the genius-director, Stanley Kramer? In other words, everyone else is a dope and they're a couple of goens. This I find hard to believe. What about Michael Dunn. Sharp as a tack! And I mean that. From the bottom.
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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