78 min
5.545
1931
USA
As a luxurious ocean liner makes its way across the Atlantic Ocean, the audience is made privy to the travails of several of its passengers. Edmund Lowe heads the cast as Monty Greer, a suave gambler who falls in love with Judy, the daughter of immigrant lens grinder Rudolph Kramer. In trying to recover some valuable securities stolen from banker Henry Graham, Greer finds himself in the middle of a fierce gun battle in the ship's engine room. Meanwhile, Graham, who has been cheating on his wife Kay with sexy dancer Sigrid Carline, is murdered by person or persons unknown.
Overview
Reviews
CinemaSerf wrote:Though this does go a bit off course from time time, a boat - like a train - does provide for quite a good stage for an engaging mystery peppered with loads of melodrama. "Greer" (Edmund Lowe) is the suave and debonaire gent who hopes to make an easy living on the cards and on the roulette wheels abroad this liner. He quickly becomes aware of a cunning wheeze by a gang of crooks to relieve wealthy tycoon "Graham" (John Halliday) of some of his wealth but declines to get involved. "Halliday" is not so happily married to "Kay" (Myrna Loy) and so keeps mistress "Sigrid" (Greta Nissen) in the style to which she wishes to remain accustomed. That brings us full circle because she and "Greer" have some history together. Things become distinctly choppier on board when news reaches all that the financier's bank has gone bust and that has devastating effects on poor old "Kramer" (Jean Hersholt) who is travelling with his daughter "Judy" (Lois Moran) and who is now completely broke. What now ensues is quite an entertaining marriage of the criminal, the comedic - especially the steward (Billy Bevan) with his shallow obsequiousness - and the lightly romantic. As the threads tie together these characters have to reconcile the bankruptcy and the infidelities - all before the ship docks and they can all go their merry ways. It's really more of an ensemble effort with a competent Lowe at the top of the bill holding together the conflicting themes and whilst I could maybe have done with a little more of Loy, it still looks good and flows well enough - if predictably - for eighty minutes before quite a lively denouement deep in the gunwales. I suppose the "code" would have put paid to it had it been made three years later - too many sinful and naughty shenanigans.
