IMDb user comments for
The Decks Ran Red (1958)

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Brisk if uninspired old dark house story set aboard a freighter, 13 May 2003

Author: bmacv from Western New York

The Decks Ran Red flaps as the title under which sets sail a tense and focused movie that takes place aboard a freighter. The Berwind sails into port in New Zealand because its captain has mysteriously died. Awarded his first command, James Mason flies in to take over as skipper of the troubled ship. He finds a slovenly and insubordinate crew, and his officers tell him that mutiny may be in the wind.

Since some of the hands have jumped ship, Mason has some holes to fill. The only cook available will sign on only if he can bring his wife, Dorothy Dandridge (as a Maori whose command of the English language encompasses even the future-perfect tense). This sultry native, the only woman on board, doesn't cool down the smouldering unrest, but the arsonist is Broderick Crawford, who fuels the fires in order to advance his own half-baked scheme: To murder all the crew but a few henchmen, making it look like desertion and mutiny, then scuttle the ship and sell it and its cargo as salvage for $1-million.

It's basically an old dark house story taken to the high seas, with murders aplenty and the briny deep to swallow up the corpses. And, despite Mason, Crawford and Dandridge, its production values are not those of The Titanic. Still, it sails brisky along (slackening a bit toward the stretched-out ending) under Andrew Stone's competent if lackluster direction.

Stone and his wife Virginia were Hollywood's answer to the mama-papa candy store: He wrote and directed, she produced and edited. Their long career resulted in many forgettable films and some embarrassments as well (Song of Norway, for one). But there were a few modest successes, too: Highway 301, The Night Holds Terror, Blueprint for Murder. The Decks Ran Red can join them as a decidedly not luxurious but still seaworthy vessel.

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
The Cast Ran Ragged...., 20 August 2002
Author: Poseidon-3 from Cincinnati, OH

Whether it actually is or not, this claustrophobic suspense yarn seems like a 'B' picture. Though Mason and Dandridge were in the midst of their best years career-wise, this seems like a step down...like something that one would do if there was no more quality work. The story (supposedly based on fact) concerns a ship Captain's (Mason) attempt to thwart a murder for riches scheme envisioned by Crawford and Whitman. The pair of thugs plan to make the crew seem like they're planning a mutiny so that it will be entered into the Captain's log. Then they will kill the crew, pretend to be the only survivors and bring the ship in for salvage worth over a million dollars. Crawford lumbers through the film with his usual style, but does present a threatening persona. Whitman struts around and poses in the world's clingiest jeans, his hair all '50's Bryll cream. It's hard to believe he was just three years away from a Best Actor nomination. Mason is believable as a Captain, but not as an action hero as he is later forced to become. A dash of feminine sex appeal is supplied by Dandridge who plays the wife of the ship's cook. She feels the need to serve the men on the boat while wearing snug dresses with deep necklines, which causes it's share of problems. Eventually, the opposing sides must play a cat and mouse game while running all around the ship. (And since it is a black and white film, the decks run grey!) The film has going for it some surprisingly stark moments of violence (for that time) and some creative camera-work in the confined bowels of the ship. Drawbacks include the bland settings, the fact that there's too much talk about what's happening in the story rather than letting the audience see it (crewmen keep coming back to the saloon to tell what's happening outside!) and a feverish, unintentionally hilarious performance by Cross as a third party in the scheme. Also, Bard, as Mason's wife, gives a bizarre performance, nervously looking at the floor through most of her brief scenes and swallowed up in an ugly coat. Still, it's a fairly tight little film with some degree of interest. TV fans may recognize old salt Patterson from "Green Acres".

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Would like to know what ship(s) were used in the filming., 8 July 2004
Author: (simmonsjo@saccounty.net) from Rancho Cordova, California

First time watching and I was captivated throughout. I'm not sure why attention was given to Dorothy Dandridge as hers seemed like a small part. Very brutal but believable plot given that anything could happen on the open sea. I especially liked the scene of the ship intending to ram the lifeboat. It was a great camera angle and one actor uses sailor jargon like, "she's really got a bone in her teeth". I was also amused by the hip lingo used by the actors. Crawford reminds me of a ratpacker no matter what film he is in. I was wondering if anyone could tell me what ship(s) was used in the film for the interior and exterior shots? It looks like a Liberty Ship I took a cruise on, the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien.

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Forget the advertising tagline!, 21 May 2000

Author: George Robinson (George-14) from New York

Forget the advertising tagline (although Dorothy Dandridge is beautiful to look at)! This is a crisp little thriller, apparently fact-based, about a couple of malcontent seamen (Crawford and Whitman) who try to foment a mutiny against new captain Mason as a cover for a scheme to kill the entire crew and bring in the ship as salvage. Except for a rather abrupt ending, nicely done by the Stones.

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3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Lame, predictable, except for Dorothy Dandridge, 7 July 2004

Author: (pakhuntz@runestone.net) from Donnelly,Mn.

Lame and predictable film with James Mason incredibly miscast as captain of the ship. you know immediately that Broderick Crawford will be the instigator of trouble as he always was and the outcome shows no surprises.

The best part of the film is the voluptuous Dorothy Dandridge who displays her charms that would make any crew mutiny for her. As as the custom in the 50's, she is married to a man who is twice her age which also makes the film sadly lacking.

Better to see James Mason in his other films in which he portrays a much more realistic person.

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1 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Low-key actioner evokes visceral response, 22 December 2001
Author: Sleepy-17 from Colorado

I agree with the previous comments 100%, but I just wanted to add something about the magnificently evil Broderick Crawford and Stuart Whitman (!!). When Stuart gets his hands on Dorothy the second time, the suspense was so strong that I involuntarily started screaming homicidal epithets at the small screen. Be sure to watch this one alone so you can let it all hang out without being embarrassed.

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1 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Pretty brutal for its time., 7 July 2004
Author: Robert J. Maxwell (rmax304823@yahoo.com) from Deming, New Mexico

These two merchant sailors -- Broderick Crawford and Stewart Whitman -- get a crazy idea aboard a freighter. They're going to kill every officer and man aboard, waterlog the ship, radio for help, claim there was a mutiny and everyone left the ship but them, and claim the ship for salvage.

Granted, the idea is slightly askew, but these guys are snipes, working down in the engine room and the temperature there runs around 116 degrees and sounds like the deepest pits of hell, so, okay, let's cut them some leeway, so to speak. That environment will drive anyone nuts. Besides, it's like the old joke. "How's your wife?" "Compared to WHAT?" If you put Crawford and Whitman next to the Manson Family or al Qaeda they look like paragons of rationality.

I'll skip the plot, I guess, because it doesn't require much in the way of explanation. The acting doesn't require much comment either. Everybody involved delivers about what you'd expect. Mason is smooth, Crawford plays a junk man, Whitman is a little ratty, and none of the others stand out -- except Dorothy Dandridge. She can't act very well, but -- wow! What a dish. I don't know about "a million bucks" but Dorothy Dandridge could start a genuine mutiny allright.

I vaguely remember seeing this when it was released and, it may be hard for a contemporary viewer to understand that, but it was shocking in its brutality. The theater suddenly went kind of quiet when Crawford deliberately picked off one of the crew members from a few feet away with a high-powered rifle. The sexy Dandridge was memorable too, although I don't remember that she quieted down the audience.

The Perrys, who produced, had a habit of using real locations for their shoots. "Cry Terror," another suspenser with James Mason, made good use of New York locations. And they actually sunk a liner for one of their movies, something like, "The Last Voyage." I'm glad they never made a movie about the end of the world.

The story isn't really a grabber and the acting is no more than routine but this is worth seeing, if only because it gives you a chance to feel what it's really like to be on a ship, not a mockup of the kind that John Wayne sails through with such ease.

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2 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Hideous, 16 May 2005

Author: drednm

Despite Oscar winner Broderick Crawford and nominees James Mason, Dorothy Dandridge, Stuart Whitman, and Jack Kruschen, this 84 minute amateurish production is excruciatingly long and dull and badly acted. This may be based on a real story but this production is among the worst films I've ever seen---and I've seen thousands of films. And all the acting is dreadful. It seems like they're making is up as they go along. Stupid dialog, ridiculous situations, and dumb characters make this a total waste of time. Laughable from the very opening, this turkey goes on and on and on until the foolish ending. I cannot believe such good actors as Mason and Crawford got stuck in this bilge. Dandridge comes off like a cartoon and Whitman is witless. David Cross, Hank Patterson, Barney Phillips, and Katherine Bard also appear to no advantage. This project should have been scuttled before the cameras started.

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