Ghost Ship is a 1952 British thriller film directed by Vernon Sewell and written by Vernon Sewell and Philip Thornton. Despite the same titles, the 2002 film of the same title is not considered a remake of this film. This was one of four attempts by Vernon Sewell to adapt and film an obscure Pierre Mills and Celia de Vilyars Grand Guignolstage play, called 'L'Angoisse'. However, the story is not about a ghost ship, but rather a "haunted boat".
Plot
An abandoned boat, the steam yacht "Cyclops", is found devoid of crew by three trawlermen in a Mary Celeste type scenario. It has one missing lifeboat. An enquiry is held. A newly-wed couple meet a broker and decide to buy the "Cyclops", and fix it up as a floating home. They put the boat in dry dock for overhaul and repainting. At a house-warming party on the boat one guest smells a Havana cigar but none is present. A drunk guest sings the hormpipe. The engineer they hired to run the boat quits. A rumour starts that he saw a ghost in the engine room. She gets a call from the bridge but there is no one there. Guy sees a man in the engine room. He challenges him and he disappears. Thery hire an expert in the paranormal to investigate, Dr. Fawcett, and his medium, Mrs. Manley to determine whether there are ghosts on the ship. The paranormal investigator uncovers the murders of the former yacht owner's wife and her lover. This is seen in flashback. He also discovers that the bodies were hidden somewhere on board the yacht. The medium spiritually intervenes and rids the yacht of the haunting spirit.
The film received partial funding from Anglo-Amalgamated. It starred real lifehusband and wife team of Dermot Walsh and Hazel Court. Most filming took place in Merton Park Studios with exteriors shot on the director's own yacht, Gelert in the English Channel. The film features Ian Carmichael, briefly, as a drunken guest, in an early film role. It includes some limited shots of Shoreham Harbour canal, West Sussex, Lady Bee Marina.
Critical reception
called the film a "talky but fairly atmospheric effort...hampered by its low budget."
