Written by / 11/07/2022 / No comments / , , , , , , ,

ORSON WELLES IN 'FERRY TO HONG KONG' WITH SYLVIA SYMS

Closeup of the dragon around the disc menu for FERRY TO HONG KONG Year: 1959

British director Lewis Gilbert's FERRY TO HONG KONG could have made a great pilot for a TV series: The premise has maverick loafer Mark Conrad, played by  Curd Jürgens, winding up on a Ferry from Hong Kong to Macao. Officials at either port won’t let him on land so he has to remain a passenger on the Ferry... thus becoming a not-so-accidental, omnipresent tourist...

Now for the antagonist: Orson Welles as Captain Hart, an uptight, prissy, anal retentive, control freak Captain who runs the boat with a iron fist despite his passive/aggressive composure...

Orson Welles and Sylvia Syms takes a stroll in FERRY TO HONG KONG

In another film with an Asian title, his own classic jigsaw Film Noir THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI, the Irish accent sounds decent while here he seems looped by a British actor doing an imitation of an uptight character meant to be despised, or worse yet, irritating...

You'll think it impossible for this to be the same man who played the mesmerizing heavy in TOUCH OF EVIL the previous year, or at twenty-five played a man of all ages in CITIZEN KANE...

Great Oriental screen credits for FERRY TO HONG KONG

The good news is, there's an "excuse" for this embarrassing performance: Unlike the rest of the cast, Welles, at odds with Curt Jergens on set, decided to play the adventure/drama on paper like a madcap comedy to the camera...

This bit of trivia makes it a much easier pill to swallow... Then again, pretending or not, like all great actors, eventually a human form does takes shape. Jurgen's affable Conrad and Welle's practically heartless Hart couldn’t be more different, and, as life imitates art (or vice versa), much of the film has the duo at bickering odds, at sea and on land...

Sylvia Syms in FERRY TO HONG KONG

And not to forget the lovely love interest – Sylvia Syms's Liz is beautiful albeit far too young for the above-middle-age, overweight Jurgens. She's a missionary with a bevy of orphans, and can’t help but love the grungy loner who, like all scruffy anti-heroes, has a heart of gold...

Jurgens makes for a semi-decent lead... although he always seems more a villain, like he was in this film's director Lewis Gilbert's classic James Bond outing THE SPY WHO LOVED ME... and there are moments when Welles comes alive from his keystone banality, during scenes with the beautiful Syms while mostly being pushed by Conrad, who has to eventually take over when a third-act emergency occurs involving immense Hammer regular Milton Reid as the leader of a band of modern pirates...

Orson Welles and the lovely Sylvia Syms in FERRY TO HONG KONG

The Asian locations are beautiful and best yet, completely genuine, and Gilbert's picturesque, travelogue direction flows nicely enough to wile the time away...

And despite a clunky script, not sure whether to be a comedy, romance, drama or adventure, by the end you’ll want to spend more time aboard, feeling that, for better or worse, you really know these people within a cozy enough boat to be stuck without a paddle.

British Poster artwork for FERRY TO HONG KONG included Cinemascope and Eastman Colour bragging
Curt Jergens takes a free ride in FERRY TO HONG KONG
Curt Jurgens watched by Orson Welles in FERRY TO HONG KONG
Orson Welles and Curt Jurgens in FERRY TO HONG KONG
Orson Welles and Curt Jurgens in FERRY TO HONG KONG
Main title card bookmarked by Asian writing for FERRY TO HONG KONG

Orson Welles in FERRY TO HONG KONG with Milton Reid
Sylvia Syms and Curt Jurgens in FERRY TO HONG KONG
Orson Welles in FERRY TO HONG KONG
Orson Welles and Curt Jurgens in FERRY TO HONG KONG
Curt Jurgens in FERRY TO HONG KONG
Orson Welles  in FERRY TO HONG KONG
Orson Welles  in FERRY TO HONG KONG
Orson Welles and Curt Jurgens in FERRY TO HONG KONG

Orson Welles in FERRY TO HONG KONG
Lewis Gilbert directs FERRY TO HONG KONG

Share This Post :
Tags : , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

All Time Popular

Featured Post

RALPH BAKSHI ANIMATED MEAN STREETS 'HEY GOOD LOOKIN'

Richard Romanus in HEY GOOD LOOKIN' Year: 1983 Rating: *** Despite being compared to GREASE, being that the main character... a suave/st...

WWW.CULTFILMFREAKS.COM

WWW.CULTFILMFREAKS.COM
Movie Reviews, Interviews, Articles and Pop Culture from White Heat to Blue City

RIP ACTOR KEN HUTCHISON

TOTAL HITS

Popular Trending

FOUNDED BY JAMES M. TATE

FOUNDED BY JAMES M. TATE
RANDOM QUOTE: "When I'm paid, I always see the job through." Lee Van Cleef in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

FILM NOIR & NEO NOIR CRIME

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)OTLEY 2)HELL IS A CITY 3)ROBBERY 4)THE FEARMAKERS 5)CANYON PASSAGE 6)VIOLENT SATURDAY 7)HOT CARS 8)JUNGLE STREET 9)THE CROWDED SKY 10)THE ROARING TWENTIES 11) ANATOMY OF A MURDER 12)WHITE LIGHTNING 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 15)HARDCORE 16)THE BREAK 17)WHITE HEAT 18)AL CAPONE 19)HIDDEN FEAR 20)FALLEN ANGEL 21)SHARKS' TREASURE 22)THE ASPHALT JUNGLE 23)ASH WEDNESDAY 24)THE SYSTEM 25)AIR PATROL 26)THE STONE KILLER 27)SANDS OF THE KALAHARI 28)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 29)IMPASSE 30)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE FAVORITE ACTORS 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)STANLEY BAKER 4)MARLON BRANDO 5)JACK NICHOLSON 6) CHARLES BRONSON 7)BURT REYNOLDS 8)WILLIAM LUCAS 9)TOM COURTENAY 10)GENE HACKMAN DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)VAL GUEST 4)STANLEY KUBRICK 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)ORSON WELLES 7)JOHN GUILLERMAN 8)JOHN LANDIS 9)JOHN CARPENTER 10)MICHAEL WINNER

BRITISH NEW WAVE CINEMA

RARITIES AND EXPLOITATION

HAMMER HORROR & THRILLER

Popular This Month

CHARLES BRONSON CINEMA

CINEMA OF DANA ANDREWS

WESTERN GENRE REVIEWS

PEAKING INTO THE SIXTIES

KICKING IN THE EIGHTIES

TALES AND REFLECTIONS

REVVING THE SEVENTIES

Most Popular Last Year