A remarkably dull tale of convicts, including a wrongly convicted medical student (Alan Ladd) being transported to Botany Bay under an inhuman captain (James Mason).
Very little happens in the first hour or so, little more than a catalogue of atrocities culminating in a double keel-hauling. No wonder a contemporary review in the Evening Standard recommended it 'for boys and ghouls'. The latter certainly. As the main victim, Ladd emerges as unusually chipper throughout. Once Botany Bay is reached the story picks up a little, but it still doesn't amount to much. The cast tend to be more competent than usual for movies of this kind, but rather dull. The scriptwriters should have walked the plank.
Very little happens in the first hour or so, little more than a catalogue of atrocities culminating in a double keel-hauling. No wonder a contemporary review in the Evening Standard recommended it 'for boys and ghouls'. The latter certainly. As the main victim, Ladd emerges as unusually chipper throughout. Once Botany Bay is reached the story picks up a little, but it still doesn't amount to much. The cast tend to be more competent than usual for movies of this kind, but rather dull. The scriptwriters should have walked the plank.