Slave Ship is a 1937 American historical adventure film directed by Tay Garnett and starring Warner Baxter, Wallace Beery and Elizabeth Allan. The supporting cast features Mickey Rooney, George Sanders, Jane Darwell, and Joseph Schildkraut. It is one of very few films out of the forty-eight that Beery made during the sound era for which he did not receive top billing.

Slave Ship
Directed byTay Garnett
Written byWilliam Faulkner (story)
Screenplay bySam Hellman
Lamar Trotti
Gladys Lehman
Based onThe Last Slaver
by George S. King[1]
Produced byDarryl F. Zanuck
StarringWarner Baxter
Wallace Beery
Elizabeth Allan
Mickey Rooney
George Sanders
Jane Darwell
Joseph Schildkraut
CinematographyErnest Palmer
Edited byLloyd Nosler
Music byAlfred Newman
Production
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Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • June 12, 1937 (June 12, 1937)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

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Cast

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Reception

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Writing for Night and Day in 1937, Graham Greene gave the film a mixed review, finding fault with the "slow-motion emotions" of Warner Baxter's acting and the plot's "slowness and inevitability" whereas real life is replete with "unexpected encounter[s]". Nevertheless, Greene opined that "[Slave-Ship] isn't a bad film, [and] it has excellent moments". Chief amongst these moments, Greene praised the knife-throwing scenes and the general acting of Wallace Beery.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Based upon a historical novel "The Last Slaver" by Dr. George S. King of Bay Shore, New York. Dr King's NY Times obituary
  2. ^ Greene, Graham (19 August 1937). "Slave-Ship/Stradivarius/Woman Chases Man". Night and Day. (reprinted in: Taylor, John Russell, ed. (1980). The Pleasure Dome. Oxford University Press. p. 162. ISBN 0192812866.)
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