The Decks Ran Red ** (1958, James Mason, Broderick Crawford, Dorothy Dandridge, Stuart Whitman) – Classic Movie Review 11,741

MGM’s 1958 seagoing suspense thriller film The Decks Ran Red stars James Mason, Broderick Crawford, Dorothy Dandridge, and is based on the book Infamy at Sea.

Director Andrew L Stone’s 1958 MGM seagoing suspense thriller The Decks Ran Red stars James Mason, Broderick Crawford, Dorothy Dandridge and Stuart Whitman, and is based on the book Infamy at Sea.

James Mason plays a freighter captain having to cope with cook’s wife Mahia (Dandridge) and a couple of lethal members of his crew (Crawford and Whitman). They want to kill everybody and take the reward for salvage.

The Decks Ran Red is a modest thriller, with a sympathetic star role for Mason and room for the heavies to be heavy. There is capable work by Andrew Stone and Virginia Stone as writers and producers, but it is mostly the acting that keeps it interesting.

The Decks Ran Red was released on 10 October 1958 (US) and is a follow-up to star Mason and director Stone’s Cry Terror! (which was released on 2 May 1958 (US).

It is shot in southern California aboard the Chios, Greece-registered SS Igor (originally the Philip C Shera), a World War Two Liberty Ship owned by the Los and Pezas ship-owning families.

Though it cost $593,000 and earned $800,000, MGM recorded a loss of $273,000.

The cast are James Mason as Captain Edwin Rummill, Dorothy Dandridge as Mahia, Pete’s Wife, Broderick Crawford as Henry Scott, Mutineer, Stuart Whitman as Leroy Martin, Scott’s Accomplice, Katharine Bard as Joan Rumill, Jack Kruschen as Alex Cole, John Gallaudet as Bull Pringle, Barney Phillips as Karl Pope, David R Cross as Mace, Hank Patterson as Mr Moody, Harry Bartell as Tom Walsh, Joel Fluellen as Pete the Cook, Guy Kingsford as Jim Osborne, Jonathan Hole as Mr Adams, Harlan Warde as Vic, Joel Marston as Russ Hendersen, Ed Hinton as Mansard, Marshall Kent as Sammy, Robert Christopher as Seaman, and Art Lewis as Seaman.

Fed up with his hit TV show’s hectic shooting schedule, Crawford quit the 156-episode Highway Patrol at the end of 1959. Stuart Whitman appeared in 13 episodes as Sergeant Walters.

 © Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,741

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