Ferry To Hong Kong

I picked up Ferry to Hong Kong for my father as a (late) Christmas gift, and we watched it last night, since I'm back in town. Curt Jurgens plays Mark Conrad, who gets hit with an ejection notice from the governor of Hong Kong after starting another drunken brawl. Which is also where he makes the brief acquaintance of Captain Hart (Orson Welles), who runs a ferry that goes between Hong Kong and Macau. Hart is not pleased to have the dirty, disheveled Conrad on his ferry, but he's glad to dump him.

Except Conrad's passport has some discrepancies, and he is refused entry to Macau. But he still can't get off the ferry in Hong Kong, either. Hart and Conrad are stuck with each other, a condition Hart, as a "respectable" man, finds more intolerable. Conrad adapts fairly quickly. In a sense, he no longer exists, which means he can stop running from his past. And he gets along well with the crew of the ferry, so he's set fairly well. He even strikes up a relationship with a young teacher named Liz (Sylvia Syms), who not only finds Conrad attractive (Jurgens spends 90% of the movie with his shirt unbuttoned, ladies), but also is working off screen to get his case some notice so he won't be stuck on the ferry. This is hampered somewhat by Conrad's tendency to selfishness. Also, he's not a quiet drunk.

The movie's tone shifts partway through. Early on, it's mostly lighthearted. There's some underlying melancholy in the mystery of what's brought Conrad to this point, but he seems amused with how things worked out, and the movie enjoys poking fun at Hart, who tries all manners of things to get rid of Conrad. In the last bit, the plot suddenly incorporates a burning junk loaded with gunpowder, a typhoon, concerns about proximity to the Chinese mainland, pirates with a ransom plot, and a struggle to save the ferry, Fat Annie. It does serve a purpose. It forces Hart to acknowledge Conrad as a person, rather than some fly buzzing about he can't seem to swat. It also forces Conrad to stop being so self-involved, to stop regarding people as something to have around when he needs amusement, and embrace the fact he actually cares about people.

It's a very funny movie, even in the tense moments. Welles does a tremendous job playing this comical windbag, utilizing a voice I couldn't believe was his. I thought they'd dubbed in someone else, because I couldn't picture that voice coming from that body (my dad noted Welles barely opens his mouth when speaks for this role, which is probably part of it). I think he brought a little W.C. Fields (or the caricature of Fields I have in my head) to the mix, but the key is you feel a little bad for him. He's trying to run this ferry, do it professionally, be a respected citizen. Here's this Conrad on his boat, dirtying it up, disrupting Hart's order, and loving every minute of it (partially because Hart makes his disdain for Conrad so clear). Once Conrad starts in with the zingers, soon everyone's having a chuckle at Hart's expense. Even the pirates keep threatening to shoot the "fat captain", which is still nicer than referring to Miss Carter as "old British spinster woman".

Dad and I had a great time watching this one. We laughed through most of it, but not because it was a bad film, it was just very entertaining.

- My dad's open envy of Jurgens ability to pull off the stubbled, disreputable European aristocrat look and get all the girls with it.

- Conrad's buddy Johnny Sing-Up (Roy Chiao), whose hair caused my dad to exclaim "I didn't know Elvis was in Hong Kong!" I opted to call him Johnny Guitar, and that was without realizing his last name was "Sing-Up".

- Welles sitting in a deck chair a crew member brought for Conrad, the chair groaning in response, and Conad getting off the "I'm sorry, our furniture isn't used to such, solid, citizens." burn.

- My first impression that the burning junk was actually a dual steam-and-sail powered junk run by pirates. It wasn't, but it was loaded with gunpowder. And then real pirates showed up 20 minutes later.

- Hart got injured in the explosion, and his pallor shifted to the point I believed he was becoming a zombie. Which lead to jokes about the pirates being there to capture the Fat Zombie and weaponize it for the glory of Mao's China.