Ghost Ship (1943)

His first time at sea, a young third mate (Russell Wade) is aboard a freighter bound for Patagonia. The Captain (Richard Dix) is very pleased with him but the third mate becomes concerned with the Captain's erratic behavior and suspects him of murdering one of the crewmen. Directed by Mark Robson (EARTHQUAKE), this entry from the RKO Val Lewton factory is the weakest of all his films that I've seen so far. Not a horror film at all but a (barely) passable thriller with shades of THE CAINE MUTINY. The acting is feeble and in the case of Richard Dix, downright terrible. Due to a plagiarism law suit (which Lewton lost), the film was kept out of circulation for some 50 years. It's better regarded as a film now than when first released but with the exception of Nicholas Musuraca's striking B&W cinematography, I'm still not impressed. I found it rather silly, in fact. With Lawrence Tierney, Edith Barrett, Edmund Glover and Sir Lancelot.