Ferry To Hong Kong (1959)

A down and out Austrian expatriate (Curt Jurgens) is deported by Hong Kong authorities and the captain (Orson Welles) of a rather dilapidated ferry is ordered to take him to Macao. But when Macao refuses to accept him either, the vagrant finds himself permanently a resident of the ferry going back and forth between Hong Kong and Macao, much to the Captain's chagrin. The first hour of the film is a rather lifeless affair with wan attempts at humor without much success. The second hour picks up considerably with a storm at sea, an explosion on board ship, the cold blooded execution of a crew member and an attack by sea pirates and concluding with a rather touching coda. But anyway you look at it, it's still a negligible film. Welles, in particular, seems disconnected and his terrible British accent only damages an already weak performance. Directed by Lewis Gilbert (THE SPY WHO LOVED ME. With Sylvia Syms as the film's lovely but insipid romantic interest, Noel Purcell, Jeremy Spenser (who has the film's best scene) and Margaret Withers.