''The Ship from Shanghai'' is a 1930

Pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...

American

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

directed by

Charles Brabin Charles Brabin (April 17, 1882 – November 3, 1957) was a British-American film director. Biography Born in Liverpool, England, he was educated at St. Francis Xavier College. Brabin sailed to New York City in the early 1900s and, while hold ...

and written by

John Howard Lawson John Howard Lawson (September 25, 1894 – August 11, 1977) was an American writer, specializing in plays and screenplays. After starting with plays for theaters in New York City, he worked in Hollywood on writing for films. He was the first pres ...

. The film stars

Conrad Nagel John Conrad Nagel (March 16, 1897 – February 24, 1970) was an American film, stage, television and radio actor. He was considered a famous matinée idol and leading man of the 1920s and 1930s. He was given an Academy Honorary Award in 1940 and ...

Kay Johnson Catherine Townsend Johnson (November 29, 1904 – November 17, 1975) was an American stage and film actress. Family Johnson was born in Mount Vernon, New York. Her father was architect Thomas R. Johnson, who worked in the firm of Cass Gil ...

Carmel Myers Carmel Myers (April 9, 1899 – November 9, 1980) was an American actress who achieved her greatest successes in silent film. Early life Myers was born in San Francisco, the daughter of Isidore Myers, a Russian-Jewish rabbi who was born in ...

Holmes Herbert Holmes Herbert (born Horace Edward Jenner; 30 July 1882 – 26 December 1956) was an English character actor who appeared in Hollywood films from 1915 to 1952, often as a British gentleman. Early life Born Horace Edward Jenner, (some sou ...

and

Zeffie Tilbury Zeffie Agnes Lydia Tilbury (20 November 1863 – 24 July 1950) was an English-American actress.
profile at Cinemorgue

. The film was released on January 31, 1930, by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

. The September 14, 1929 issue of "Loew's Weekly" claimed that it was the first all-talking picture to be made entirely at sea, "a special yacht having been outfitted with sound-absorbent material, from the captain's cabin to the keel, for this purpose. This yacht will be demolished in the climactic episode of the film."

Premise

On a yacht sailing from Shanghai to the United States carrying wealthy socialites, the sailors, led by a megalomaniac steward (played by

Louis Wolheim Louis Robert Wolheim (March 28, 1880 – February 18, 1931) was an American actor, of both stage and screen, whose rough physical appearance relegated him to roles mostly of thugs or villains in the movies, but whose talent allowed him to fl ...

), revolt and take control of the ship.

Cast

as Howard Vazey *

as Dorothy Daley *

as Viola Thorpe *

as Paul Thorpe *

Zeffie Tilbury Zeffie Agnes Lydia Tilbury (20 November 1863 – 24 July 1950) was an English-American actress.
profile at Cinemorgue

as Lady Daley *

as Ted *Ivan Linow as Pete * Jack McDonald as Reid

References

External links

* 1930 films American action films 1930s action films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films directed by Charles Brabin American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films {{action-film-stub