''The Captain's Table'' is a 1954

comedy novel A comic novel is a Novel, novel-length work of humorous fiction. Many well-known authors have written comic novels, including P. G. Wodehouse, Henry Fielding, Mark Twain, and John Kennedy Toole. Comic novels are often defined by the author's liter ...

by the British writer Richard Gordon. The captain of a rundown

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

is transferred by the company to command a luxury liner.

Adaptations

In 1959 it was made into a British film of the same title directed by Jack Lee and starring

John Gregson Harold Thomas Gregson (15 March 1919 – 8 January 1975), known professionally as John Gregson, was an English actor of stage, television and film, with 40 credited film roles. He was best known for his crime drama and comedy roles. Gregson w ...

and

Donald Sinden Sir Donald Alfred Sinden (9 October 1923 – 12 September 2014) was an English actor. Sinden featured in the film ''Mogambo'' (1953), and achieved early fame as a Rank Organisation film star in the 1950s in films including '' The Cruel Sea'' ( ...

.Goble p.187 A West German adaptation '' The Captain'' was produced in 1971 starring

Heinz Rühmann Heinrich Wilhelm "Heinz" Rühmann (; 7 March 1902 – 3 October 1994) was a German film actor who appeared in over 100 films between 1926 and 1993. He is one of the most famous and popular German actors of the 20th century, and is considered a Ge ...

and

Johanna Matz Johanna Matz (5 October 1932 – 21 April 2025) was an Austrian actress. Matz was born in Vienna, Austria on 5 October 1932. She began as a dancer and from 1950 to 1993 acted at the Burgtheater. Matz died on 21 April 2025, at the age of 92. S ...

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. 1954 British novels 1950s in comedy Novels by Richard Gordon British comedy novels Nautical novels British novels adapted into films Michael Joseph books {{1950s-comedy-novel-stub