Ship of Fools (1965)

Cast

Vivien Leigh
as Mary Treadwell
Lee Marvin
as Bill Tenny
George Segal
as David
José Ferrer
as Siegfried Rieber

Get more information about Ship of Fools (1965) on IMDb

Genres & Description

Action Drama Romance War

7.2 / 10

1933: An ocean liner belonging to a second-rate German company is making a twenty-six day voyage from Veracruz, Mexico to Bremerhaven, Germany. Along the way it will stop in Cuba to pick up a large group of Spanish farm laborers who are being shipped home and who will be housed like cattle in steerage. There it will also pick up La Condesa, a Spanish countess. It will stop in Tenerife, where the farm workers will disembark and where La Condesa will be sent to a German-run prison for her "traitorous" activities in Cuba. This voyage will be the last of three for the ship's doctor, Willi Schumann, who has a serious heart ailment and who thought he could find some meaning to his life through this job. Willi and La Condesa fall in love, with the ship's Captain Thiele, who is Willi's closest friend on board, believing the drug-addicted La Condesa is only using him to get her fixes. Willi and La Condesa have to figure out if there is a future for them after the voyage, as Willi's life also ...

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Comments on this trailer
Comments may include spoiler!

Devon Dandy

The very first week that I worked for Rank Theatre Division I was sent for training at an Odeon Cinema and this film was being screened. As a 22 year old I was stunned by it. The quality of the acting , the exposure of so many facets of human behaviour from an ensemble cast. Vivian Leigh could almost have been playing herself as the disillusioned middle aged divorcee. Micheal Dunn's late night scene with Lee Marvin as the disappointed ex football players is a master class in dramatic timing. The films that followed it during my training were all very entertaining but had nothing like the gravity and quality of this film. I now screen it from time to time on the big screen at home. Not to be missed. - @Tuesday, February 27, 2018 1:55 PM

CutZy McCall

This is a beautiful trailer, very well made. It really captures the film without giving too much away. Great, great book and film. The love scene between Simone Signoret and Oscar Werner is one of the most erotic in any movie, and all they do is have one kiss. Terribly tragic and romantic. Sigh. - @Sunday, January 22, 2017 7:12 AM

dhjustin

was an actual passenger ship used? and if so, what ship was used in the movie? - @Thursday, September 22, 2016 5:56 PM

CHOSEN 7 KINGS

This Movie is One of the Greatest Ever mostly because of the Honest Sincere Portrayal of what Dwells deep down in the Souls of those that have been affected to the Heart Emotionally, - @Tuesday, April 19, 2016 3:09 PM

TheChannel.TV

Ship of Fools is one of my top 10 favorites of all time. Not just another traveling soaper, this. Up for 8 Oscars including best picture, it is meaningful, almost allegorical and spot-on about the human condition, worthy of Katherine Anne Porter's brilliant--and only--novel, thanks in large part to Abby Mann's incisive adaptation. Considering the size of the cast, it is quite amazing that there is not a bad performance anywhere in sight. But three are outstanding, all of whom received Oscar nominations: Oskar Werner (best actor), Simone Signoret (best actress), and Michael Dunn (best supporting actor), who opens and closes the movie as an observer of the other passengers, appropriately so since he is a self-described "fool" himself, the only one with self-awareness. Werner and Signoret comprise the most touching and believable middle-aged pair you will ever see. They are superb together. Werner in particular dominates the picture and should have won the Oscar (he did get the NY film critics award), but the academy probably didn't want him to be known the rest of his life as Oscar winner Oskar Werner. I see no other reason for them to prefer Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou. - @Thursday, April 7, 2016 7:42 PM

NIc Fewer

I had the pleasure of meeting BarBara Luna, second wife of my favourite actor Doug McClure, at the Memphis Film Festival in 2011. This movie has been up on Youtube twice but I missed most of it as it was taken down. - @Wednesday, September 23, 2015 9:32 PM

TheJMascis666

President Johnson watched at least some of this movie on New Year's Day 1966 according to the Presidential Daily Diary. - @Wednesday, April 22, 2015 8:41 AM

D M

This movie is one of the most compelling films I've ever seen. - @Thursday, September 11, 2014 9:55 AM

Phil Cross

SPOILER WARNING! Everyone on this ship is a fool. - @Tuesday, August 26, 2014 1:39 AM

Hanno the Phoenician

The trailer didn't do this classic film any justice; it was far more intense and dealt with far more serious issues than suggested by the superficial trailer. I saw this movie over 40 years ago and still get a chill from remembering the scene between the Jewish passenger returning to Germany during the rise of the Nazi party ("They can't kill all of us, can they?") and the shocked and knowing look by Michael Dunn, the real star of the film. - @Saturday, June 28, 2014 3:19 AM

NIc Fewer

Michael Dunn is great in his Oscar nominated role as the only passenger who knows it is a "Ship of Fools", and that the coming to power of Hitler in that fateful year of 1933 will see a good many of those passengers dead with 10 years. - @Saturday, June 14, 2014 11:00 PM

Dolores Gonzalez

I have to watch the movie again because I missed some of it. I felt so sorry for the doctor and Simone because they knew that the love affair they shared was going to be short lived. When the ship landed the arm band on the guard told the whole story. Excellent movie. - @Wednesday, February 26, 2014 4:12 PM

Ken Strain

My favorite scene in this movie is where Vivian Leigh's character and Lee Marvin's character are sitting at a table together. Marvin's character is known for being good with his fists. I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it, but it's priceless. - @Monday, February 17, 2014 6:08 PM

Tania Tikhonenko

it's very nice movie about relationships between people - @Thursday, October 3, 2013 10:43 AM

Warren Hamlet

This is probably the most underrated picture Stanley Kramer ever made. They all give close to flawless performances. Again thanks to Kramer. - @Saturday, June 8, 2013 5:28 AM

man slave

Can you believe that I got this movie out of the Value Bin at Walmart for $5? It was a double-feature along with Lilith. Both on the same Blu-Ray disc for $5. Pretty good. - @Friday, May 3, 2013 6:17 PM

RachLongbottom

I totally agree =) Thanks for liking the movie so much; it is indeed a great movie with which everyone should learn important things about life. Best wishes* - @Thursday, May 2, 2013 6:39 PM

man slave

I finished watching this on Blu-Ray last night and it was worth watching. It's a long movie, but good. Lots of examples to learn about female nature and gynocentric selfishness. - @Thursday, May 2, 2013 2:07 PM

Ольга Коновалова

The fine movie! - @Monday, April 8, 2013 1:53 AM

Janet Eastridge

Could someone please post this movie please..... - @Saturday, March 9, 2013 3:51 PM

3636Clarence

The dancing guy also looks like his pants are on fire. Okay, we know it's Jose Greco. Just say'in.. - @Sunday, October 28, 2012 2:32 AM

TheAlpo40

This movie is f*cking awesome. - @Sunday, September 2, 2012 8:27 PM

Aangeldragon

The dancing guy looks like he has to use the bathroom... - @Sunday, May 20, 2012 3:07 PM