I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Good concept, poorly executed.

Absolutely Brilliant!

Blistering performances.

"Ship Of Fools" (1965) movie is better than K. A. Porter's book, and possibly the best ensemble top actors movie ever made.The movie got two Academy Awards....one for best cinematography, and the other for best art direction. Both deserved."Ship Of Fools" (1965) also deserved (but did not get, sadly) multiple "Best Actor" and Best Actress" awards ["Best Supporting Actor/ Actress awards, also].High quality, in-depth acting of true talent and accomplishment have seldom ever reached the levels achieved in this movie, done repeatedly, again and again and again, from start to finish.The movie contained at least half a dozen (possibly more) Academy Award winner best actor performances.....at least three best actor academy award winners performed (incredibily) in this movie (Lee Marvin, Vivien Leigh, and Jose Ferrer), and others (some who may have gotten academy awards I overlooked) were also wonderful in all ways (Simone Signoret, Oscar Werner, Michael Dunn, Elizabeth Ashley, George Segal, Gila Golan, Jose Greco, and Barbara Luna....who sang the famous "Dites Moi" song in South Pacific on the Broadway stage when she was a little girl in 1949!).The titles at the start of movie are incredible, and deserve to be ranked with the best of all movie titles ever presented (someday, a special award for movie titles will be established....if this has not already been done, it is certainly an unmet need.....movie titles are important, are an art unto themselves, and a major asset to movies when done well.........see the titles for Bullitt 1968 and North By Northwest 1959 as only two examples of "the best of the best movie titles...the "Ship Of Fools" 1965 movie titles are part of the "the best of the best.") The Abby Mann written screenplay is really an original screenplay with an original story, by far better than the best selling Katherine Anne Porter novel also titled "Ship Of Fools" .... not at all the same as the book....better! Stanley Kramer's direction is wonderful.Original music by Ernest Gold in the movie includes a German language song performed very well by Jose Ferrer. The title of the song is "Heute abend geh'n wir bummein auf der Reeperbahn," and it is a true "gemutlicheit" German language song, indeed, even if it was written in the USA for a Hollywood, English language movie.This movie is a true gem, and deserves to be ranked as one of the best movies of all times.All movie actors (I am one) should see this movie....it's a chance to see "the best of the best" one after the other after the other after the other.Acting just doesn't get better than is the case in "Ship Of Fools" (1965).-------------- Written by Tex Allen, SAG Actor Email Tex Allen at [email protected] Visit WWW.IMDb.Me/TexAllen for movie credits and biography information.

This film has a first rate cast like the great Vivien Leigh, Simone Signoret, Oskar Werner, Lee Marvin, Elizabeth Ashley, George Segal, Michael Dunn, Jose Ferrer, and others to write about here. The relationships that occurred on the ship seemed destined for failure. The voyage takes place in 1933 before Hitler becomes the dictator of Germany. Many of the passengers are Germans returning to their country. Not all, La Condensa (played by French actress Simone Signoret) is Spanish and develops a relationship with the ship's doctor played by Oskar Werner. The ending is a bit vague about the doctor's fate. Elizabeth Ashley and George Segal play an American couple who are in love but torn when they learn more about each other. Vivien Leigh only a few years before her own death plays a bitter American divorcée, Mrs. Treadwell. With good writing, she could have won her third Academy Award but didn't even get nominated. Lee Marvin plays a washed up baseball player. Michael Dunn is the philosophical dwarf who introduces us to the ship of fools. The film won two Oscars for cinematography and art direction both for black and white. The film doesn't shy away from the impending doom for the Jews in Germany and in Europe or the upcoming war in the future. It's horrifying to think that signs were missed. I think that's the horrifying part of films like this and Cabaret, you know what's coming and you want the cast to be prepared. Jose Ferrer is great in his role as a devout German. The film does show the class differences between the steerage and the upper decks as well. It's a fine film overall!

Only a fool would find something to criticize about "Ship of Fools." This gem from Stanley Kramer has some of the most fascinating/interesting characters ever to grace the screen. It has an all star cast, and all the stars shine brightly.This barely pre-Nazi film is intriguing from the very beginning to the very end.The relationships of all involved are quite real, the actors involved getting very involved with their portrayals. It is hard to single any one of them out. The casting is perfect.You love or hate the characters. There is no room for indifference on this "Ship Of Fools."

A black & white film, this film has a good script & a really talented cast. Besides Viven Lee in her last picture (& not performing at her best by this time) we have Lee Marvin the same year he was doing Cat Ballou for which he was Oscar nominated. Werner Kemperer (Col Klink on Hogans Heros) as a junior officer. Elizabeth Ashley as a younger woman who is still busy today as an actress. Michael Dunn as the narrator & in a role received his only Oscar nomination for this film. There are others including Jose Ferrer but you get the idea there is a lot of talent in this cast.This film won two Oscars in a year when there was a fair amount of good films around besides this one. Stanley Kraemer who is a good director is quite able in doing the direction. The story is from a novel which was the most major of works by it's author.The story is about a German crewed ship heading for Germany during the 1930's at the time Adolf Hitler was taking power. There are conversations about discrimination & a lot of other hot topics of the time. Most of the folks have no idea what they are sailing into, yet the story is very good at bringing out the issues. It is quite literally a ship of fools cruising into a major disaster of Nazi tyranny.Michael Dunn at this time is just about getting started as his most remembered role as Dr. Loveless on The Wild Wild West. This is one of the few films I have seen him in & was very happy to see it. Dunn shows here a lot of ability & definitely deserved the nomination. He even has the last lines of the film, quite an honor for an actor to perform so well that Kraemer gave him this honor.This film is worth looking at just for the talented cast, but script is a dandy here as well. It shows a lot of intelligence in it's historic setting & a great job of adapting a difficult novel to adapt to the screen. The film is in Black & White & is well photographed.