Voyage of the Damned
Voyage of the Damned | |
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Directed by | Stuart Rosenberg |
Written by | David Butler Steve Shagan |
Produced by | Robert Fryer William Hill |
Starring | Faye Dunaway Oskar Werner Lee Grant Max von Sydow James Mason Malcolm McDowell |
Cinematography | Billy Williams |
Music by | Lalo Schifrin |
Distributed by | AVCO Embassy Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 155 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Voyage of the Damned is a a 1976 drama film, which was based on a 1974 book written by Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts with the same title.[1] The story was inspired by true events concerning the fate of the MS St. Louis ocean liner carrying Jewish refugees from Germany to Cuba in 1939.
Director and cast
The 1976 film was directed by Stuart Rosenberg, with a screenplay by David Butler and Steve Shagan. It was produced by ITC Entertainment and released by Avco Embassy Pictures.
The cast included Faye Dunaway, Laura Gemser, Lee Grant, Oskar Werner, Sam Wanamaker, Lynne Frederick, Luther Adler, Wendy Hiller, Julie Harris, Nehemiah Persoff, Paul Koslo, Jonathan Pryce, Max von Sydow, Malcolm McDowell, Orson Welles, James Mason, Katharine Ross, José Ferrer, Ben Gazzara, Fernando Rey, Maria Schell, Janet Suzman, Helmut Griem, Victor Spinetti and Denholm Elliott.
It was also the final film starring Oskar Werner.
Plot
Based on actual events, this film tells the story of the 1939 voyage of the MS St. Louis, which departed from Hamburg carrying 937 Jews from Germany, ostensibly to Havana, Cuba. The passengers, having seen and suffered rising anti-Semitism in Germany, realised this might be their only chance to escape. The film details the emotional journey of the passengers who gradually become aware that their passage was planned as an exercise in propaganda, and that it had never been intended that they disembark in Cuba. Rather, they were to be set up as Pariahs, to set an example before the world. As a Nazi official states in the film, when the whole world has refused to accept them as refugees, no country can blame Germany for the fate of the Jews.
The Cuban Government refuses entry to the passengers, and as the liner waits off the Florida coast, they learn that the United States also has rejected them, leaving the ship no choice but to return to Europe. The captain tells a confidante that he has received a letter signed by 200 passengers saying they will join hands and jump into the sea rather than return to Germany. He states his intention to run the liner aground on a reef off the southern coast of England.
Shortly before the film's end, it is revealed that the governments of Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom have each agreed to accept a share of the passengers as refugees. As they cheer and clap at the news, footnotes disclose the fates of some of the main characters, suggesting that more than 600 of the 937 passengers who did not make it to the UK ultimately lost their lives in Nazi concentration camps.
Production
The movie was filmed on location in Barcelona, Spain, St. Pancras Chambers in London, and the EMI Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire.
Actual death toll
The true death toll is unclear. The book of these events estimates a much lower number of deaths. By using the survival rates for Jews in various countries, Thomas and Morgan-Witts estimated 180 of the St. Louis refugees in France, 152 of those in Belgium, and 60 of those in the Netherlands would have survived the Holocaust. Adding to these the passengers who disembarked in England, they estimated that of the original 936 refugees (one man died during the voyage), roughly 709 survived and 227 were slain.[2][3] (See the relevant article.) In 1998, Scott Miller and Sarah Ogilvie of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum traced the survivors from the voyage. They concluded that a total of 254 refugees died at the hands of the Nazis.[4]
Alternate version
The complete, uncut version of the film was 182 minutes long. It was released only once, on the Magnetic Video label in 1980.
Awards
The film was nominated for three Academy Awards:
- Best Supporting Actress - Lee Grant
- Best Original Score - Lalo Schifrin
- Best Writing Adapted Screenplay - David Butler and Steve Shagan.
It was nominated for six Golden Globe Awards, winning one:
It was nominated in the categories of:
- Best Picture- Drama
- Best Original Score - Lalo Schinfrin
- Best Screenplay - David Butler and Steve Shagan
- Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture - Oskar Werner
- Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture - Lee Grant
Soundtrack
Untitled | |
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The film score was composed, arranged and conducted by Lalo Schifrin and the soundtrack album was released on the Entr'Acte label in 1977.[5]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Lalo Schifrin
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Main Title" | 2:21 |
2. | "House Painter March" | 1:49 |
3. | "Hotel Nacionale" | 2:18 |
4. | "What's Past is Past; Affirmation of Love" | 2:51 |
5. | "Lament" | 2:30 |
6. | "The Arrival; Theme of Hope" | 3:21 |
7. | "The Captain; Goodbye Aunt Jenny; We Need Help" | 3:11 |
8. | "So Many Things I Wanted to Say" | 2:08 |
9. | "To Be A Woman" | 2:07 |
10. | "Tragedy; Time Pulse" | 3:59 |
11. | "Our Prayers Have Been Answered" | 2:16 |
12. | "End Credits (Foxtrot)" | 2:30 |
Personnel
- Lalo Schifrin - arranger, conductor
- London Studio Orchestra
See also
References
- ^
Thomas, Gordon and Witts, Max Morgan (1974). Voyage of the Damned. Konecky & Konecky. ISBN 1-56852-579-6.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Rosen, pp. 447, 567 citing Morgan-Witts and Thomas (1994) pp.8, 238
- ^ Rosen, Robert (2006-07-17). Saving the Jews (Speech). Carter Center (Atlanta, Georgia). Retrieved 2007-07-17.
- ^ http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27373131
- ^ Payne, D. Lalo Schifrin discography accessed March 16, 2012
External links
- 1976 films
- 1974 books
- British films
- Elstree Studios films
- English-language films
- 1970s drama films
- Films based on non-fiction books
- Films directed by Stuart Rosenberg
- Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe winning performance
- Films shot in Barcelona
- Holocaust films
- History books about the Holocaust
- International response during the Holocaust
- ITC Entertainment films
- Literary collaborations
- Seafaring films based on actual events
- Jewish emigration from Nazi Germany