Hell Ship Mutiny

1957

South Pacific, John Carradine, Adventure, Polynesia

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050497/ AN EXCITING STORY!.. Of Passionate Love...and High-Adventure in the South Pacific! Jon Hall, who starred in several exotic adventure-romances with Dorothy Lamour and Maria Montez in the thirties and forties, seems to have had a dual purpose in making this rather retro sarong film. One was to promote his new underwater movie equipment rental business (the plot provides for lots of shots of Jon and friends diving for pearls, engaging in underwater tussles, looking at fishies, etc.) The other was to express a love that dared not speak its name, at least to Dorothy or Maria. The lumpish Polynesian princess that's Jon's nominal love interest appears to take second place in his affections to a puckish little brown boy in an abbreviated pareu, and there's a lot more buff male bodies on display on his island paradise than the expected female ones. As ever, however, the cutest item on display is Peter Lorre, in an all too brief comic turn as a visiting colonial circuit judge. Jon Hall, John Carradine, Peter Lorre, Mike Mazurki and Salty the Chimp

Hell Ship Mutiny is a 1957 American South Seas (genre) film directed by Lee Sholem and Elmo Williams starring Jon Hall (actor) who also produced and narrated the film. It is a compilation of a 1955 unsold television pilot Knight of the South Seas.

Plot summary

Captain Jim Knight, and his crew Roxy, Tula and a chimp named Salty sail the South Sea Islands in search of adventure. They discover a criminal gang has taken over a small island forcing the native pearl divers to dive beyond safe limits.
After capturing the three man gang, Knight takes them to Tahiti for trial where the men escape and force Knight to sail them to New Zealand. Knight subdues them again but this time a minor French magistrate is sent to the island to try them there. The magistrate joins the criminals when a native boy locates the wreck of a lost ship containing a Burmese King's treasure.

Cast

Jon Hall (actor) as Capt. Jim Knight
John Carradine as Malone
Peter Lorre as Commissioner Lamoret
Roberta Haynes as Princess Mareva
Mike Mazurki as Ross, chief henchman
Charles Mauu as Tula, sailor
Stanley Adams (actor) as Roxy, first mate
Danny Richards Jr. as Tatoa, native boy
Felix Locher as King Parea
Peter Coe (actor) as Prince Terahi
Michael Barrett as Pinky, Malone Henchman
Salvador Baguez as Kuala
Salty the Chimp as Salty

Category:1957 films
Category:American films
Category:1950s adventure films
Category:Republic Pictures films
Category:English-language films
Category:Black-and-white films
Category:Films set in Oceania
Category:Seafaring films