4. Morituri 1965.
Hard to believe that this black and white war drama wasn't made back in the 1950s, especially when two of its principle stars are Marlon Brando and Yul Brynner. World War Two is in full swing but Robert Crain, as played by Brando, wouldn't know it because he's living a life of ease in India. Until that is, he's visited by an English Colonel (as played by Trevor Howard) who exposes him as being a full blooded German living incognito there in India so as to avoid participating in the war. Crain is a wealthy German engineer and the Colonel threatens to notify German authorities as to his whereabouts, unless, of course, he takes part in a mission of boarding a freighter loaded with precious rubber. Crain has to play the part of a high ranking Nazi Party member, on board to check and see if all the crewmen are loyal Nazis'. His real job though, is to wander about the ship and disable a number of dynamite charges that are located in hidden spots throughout the vessel. Why? Because the ship is planned to be waylaid by the allies, half way across the ocean and it's rubber cargo seized. Yul Brynner is the German master of the freighter and he has been given explicit orders to get that rubber from China to France and to blow it up rather than have it be captured. Thus the dynamite charges and thus Brando's assignment which he reluctantly accepts cuz' he's like being blackmailed. So there's your movie, and it's a great one.
Brynner and Brando are awesome as the dueling Germans. Wally Cox (a close friend of Brando's in real life) is also in the movie, playing a heroin riddled doctor. Another favorite character actor of mine is in the movie. Hans Christian Blech, who plays a political prisoner aboard the ship. He is a talented seaman who is allowed to go about his work unmolested.
They used a nifty film effect while making this movie. Clever use of a helicopter and a zoom lens. It was used a couple times throughout the movie. (That's Hans there, running down the side of the ship.)
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