Art-oriented film critics tended to ignore Andrew L. Stone's movies, probably because they were simple exercises in basic suspense without pretentions to importance. And it's true that some of his earlier suspense efforts (The Night Holds Terror) adhere doggedly to a jeopardy storyline and short-change the characters. In Julie we simply watch Doris Day forced into ever-more dire situations while people around her are murdered. When a suspense story becomes too mechanical, dramatic interest tends to fade.

Stone's The Decks Ran Red used some real ships for excellent production value, an experience that must have led to the idea of filming a story about a sinking ocean liner on the real thing. The Ile de France was scheduled to be cut up for scrap, and the husband & wife Stone team realized that it was a made-to-order floating movie set. Most of the movie was shot in the ship just off the coast of Japan, with cameraman Hal Mohr improvsing lighting in ballrooms, corridors and the enormous engine spaces.

Stone's tight screenplay sticks to the facts. The titles are barely over when the explosion occurs and from then on the movie becomes a suspense machine. Dorothy Malone's Laurie is pinned in the wreckage of her cabin, creating immediate tension; even though we know that she'll probably be rescued in the nick of time, it's impossible not to identify with the situation. The suffering Malone displays a gutsy, heroic attitude -- who wouldn't panic in similar circumstances? Robert Stack falls into his stalwart hero mode but with more sensitivity than usual. Only the daughter is a pain in the neck, a curly-haired redhead with an annoying voice and manner. She's also completely believable, but when Stack is risking his life to save her, we feel a nagging question ... Why?

The Last Voyage is a great picture for Woody Strode. His caring sailor takes responsibility for the Henderson's problem when nobody else will, and he almost single-handedly solves the toughest problems. In the confusion of the sinking we're in need of somebody to be effectual, with the result that Strode comes off as a laudable old-fashioned good guy separate from racial concerns. Even Henderson's hearty final line, "This is one guy I'm gonna help aboard personally!" seems appropriate, even though Cliff Henderson never thinks to call Strode's character by name.

The physical production is extremely impressive. Chances are that the Henderson's cabin was built in a larger room on the boat, just so there would be space for the camera. No movie set could communicate the difficulty in hauling an acetylene tank out of the engine compartment and through the wrecked hallways. Some good effects men selectively flooded (and drained) specific spaces for filming. A fake engine-room wall must have been constructed for the awesome shot where a torrent of water rips down a bulkhead, cascading onto fleeing stokers.

Other clever devices are used to simulate the sinking as perceived inside the ship. We're told that a fireboat's hoses were trained on portholes to portray parts of the boat dipping under the water level. In some scenes we can see that rooms and corridors have been lined with black vinyl to create 'puddles' in areas of the ship actually high above the waterline. Although the ship's bow was lowered by flooding for some shots, subsequent views of the tilted ship are accomplished through mattes: The waterline often appears as a fuzzy area.

The last moments on board are what made viewers certain that they'd seen an amazing 'documentary' shot of the cast struggling on the deck of the sinking ship. A large tilting set was constructed on a Japanese pier to represent one of the Claridon's upper decks. As the far end of the set dips further down, water rushes up at our fleeing stars. The effect is terrific, even though a close examination of the shot reveals the seams in the illusion. The upper cabin walls flex with the rushing water, proving they are made of wood and not steel. And (especially on un-matted TV prints) the same walls end abruptly, with 'no more ship' up above. I'm also told that sharp eyes can pick out a safety frogman clinging to the set during the held-take scene.

Warners' budget-priced DVD of The Last Voyage looks good in an enhanced transfer properly matted to focus the action on the screen. The big money shots (the bursting bulkhead, a collapsing smokestack) seem impressive again. Particularly good is the film's use of sound recorded on location. The echoey ambience in the ship's hollow spaces adds another level of realism to the film.

On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, The Last Voyage rates:
Movie: Excellent
Video: Very Good
Sound: Very Good
Supplements: Trailer
Packaging: Keep case
Reviewed: November 21, 2006