Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1959


Ferry to Hong Kong

Buy Ferry to Hong Kong now from Amazon

First, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.

Wikipedia article




'Ferry to Hong Kong' is a 1959 British melodrama/adventure film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Curt Jrgens, Sylvia Syms, Orson Welles and Jeremy Spenser.

Plot



Mark Conrad, a debonair Anglo-Austrian former playboy and junk owner, now an alcoholic down-and-out, is expelled from Hong Kong. He is placed on an ancient ferry boat, the Fa Tsan (known to its crew as the Fat Annie), despite the protests of the pompous owner, Captain Cecil Hart.

He travels to Macau, but is refused entry for the same reason he was expelled from Hong Kong. He engages the captain in a card game and wins the right to 'live' on board. His charming manner endears him to the crew and to an attractive teacher Liz Ferrers, a regular passenger.

The ferry is nearly wrecked in a typhoon, but Conrad wrests command from the cowardly and drunken captain and saves the ship. Drifting out of control near the Chinese coast, they are boarded by pirates, led by Chinese-American Johnny Sing-up. Sing-up reveals that Hart is a former conman who won the ship in a crooked card-game.

Conrad becomes a hero when he saves the ship, and is allowed to stay in Hong Kong. He is tempted to continue his budding relationship with Liz, but decides to resist it until

he has 'beaten the dragon'.

Cast



* Curt Jrgens as Mark Bertram Conrad

* Orson Welles as Captain Cecil Hart

* Sylvia Syms as Miss Liz Ferrers

* Jeremy Spenser as Miguel Henriques, 1st Officer

* Noel Purcell as Joe Skinner, ship's engineer

* Margaret Withers as Miss Carter

* John Wallace as Hong Kong Police Inspector

* Roy Chiao as Johnny Sing-up

* Shelley Shen as Foo Soo

* Louis Seto as Tommy Cheng

* Milton Reid as Yen, Sing-Up's Partner

Background



The film was among those movies made by Rank to appeal to the international market, involving colour and location filming. Rank had rationalised its film production arm, decreasing overall output but putting more money in a certain number of films. Rank chairman John Davis said: "It is vital that the greatest possible financial encouragement should be given to the making of important films: for these the public will gladly pay. The emphasis will be on the more expensive and important film.""BRITISH DOSSIER: Rank Theatre Chain, Production List Reduced -- Outlet -- Other Items" by STEPHEN WATTS LONDON.. 'New York Times' 26 Oct 1958: X7.

The film was to originally star Burl Ives and contract star Peter Finch."Burl Ives Signed for British Film: TV Grabs Unreleased Movie; Rodolfo Hoyos Saves 'Villa!!'" Scheuer, Philip K. 'Los Angeles Times' 12 Sep 1958: B7. However this soon became Curt Jurgens and Orson Welles."Film Plays and Players" 'The Christian Science Monitor' 20 Sep 1958: 11. (A number of Rank movies had German stars around this time as the German market was seen as very important.)

The original title was 'Night Ferry to Hong Kong'. The movie had one of the largest budgets in the history of Rank."AMERICANS IN ACTION ON BRITAIN'S FILM FRONT: Shooting 'Suddenly' -- New Departure For Miss Dandridge -- Other Items" by STEPHEN WATTS LONDON.. 'New York Times' 19 July 1959: X5.

Lewis Gilbert described 'Ferry to Hong Kong' as "my nightmare film". Orson Welles, he said, "never cared about his fellow actors, never cared about the director". Gilbert says "everything was wrong with the film - principally Orson Welles".Lewis Gilbert's comments were made in an interview on the BBC Radio 4 programme 'Desert Island Discs' transmitted on 25 June 2010.

Originally Jurgens was meant to play the ship captain and Welles the tramp but John Davis, head of Rank, insisted they change roles. The film was shot entirely on location. In Hong Kong the production team bought a boat that could be converted into a paddle steamer and used local labour to build a full sized studio stage and crane for the CinemaScope camera. The film was shot with guide tracks and every line of dialogue was re-recorded and re-synched in Pinewood. Welles and Jurgens hated each other and Gilbert had trouble filming them in the same shot. Welles insisted on wearing a false nose and at one point held up filming for two days while he could find his nose.

Reception



The film received bad reviews in England and was a disaster at the box office.

The 'Los Angeles Times' called it "a very funny comedy-drama"."Sophia Loren Cavorts as 'The Millionairess': SOPHIA" Stinson, Charles. 'Los Angeles Times' 24 Mar 1961: B10

References




Buy Ferry to Hong Kong now from Amazon

<-- Return to movies from 1959



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1108309565.