89 Days of Oscar Nominees – #31 – Ship of Fools (1965)

In my attempt to have a more prolific repertoire of Oscar Nominated Films, I have taken it upon myself to watch 89 new Best Picture Nominees that I’ve never seen before between 1 Dec 2016 and The 89th Annual Oscars on 26 Feb 2017.

Here is my 31st review of the 89 chosen Films…

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“I like people; if you look for it, you can find something good in anybody.” – Lowenthal

Number of Times Seen – 1 (27 Dec 2016)

Brief Synopsis – On a cross-Atlantic trip during the 1930’s the lives of the passengers intersect during their journey.

My Take on it – This is a film that I didn’t know anything about at all and just randomly chose to watch.

I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did and it is now quite high on my favorite films list.

In some ways, this film feels like an extended version of an episode of The Love Boat because we get to meet each and every character and then see how they interact with the other passengers and crew throughout the film.

Each character is written extremely well and each is unique in their thoughts, actions and ideas.

Loves how their interactions sometimes caused friction and sometimes friendship depending on the exact moment of their meeting.

This film is a superb character study which looks at characters from all walks of life that could conceivably be on a journey like this one and it’s done exceptionally well.

The cast is amazing and they all help make this film even more memorable.

The two main standouts to me were Michael Dunn as the narrator and Oskar Werner as the ship’s doctor.

Not surprisingly, both were nominated for Oscars for their roles here.

This is a film that is now going to be listed among my all-time favorites and I really can’t wait to see it again because it is so very interesting to watch on so many different levels.

Bottom Line – Excellent film because the characters are written so well and each and every one is so diverse that their interactions can cause friction or friendship depending on the moment.  Superb character study of different kinds of people done exceptionally well.  Amazing cast helps make this film so memorable. Dunn and Werner stand out the most here as being the best tho.  Can’t wait to see this again because it is so interesting on so many different levels. Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – As of 2016, Michael Dunn is the only Dwarf actor (3’11) ever to be nominated for an Oscar. (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy

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