TORTURE SHIP (1939) Lyle Talbot, Irving Pichel & Julie Bishop | Horror, Sci-Fi | B&W

Torture Ship is a 1939 American science fiction horror film directed by Victor Halperin, based on Jack London's 1899 short story "A Thousand Deaths". The film stars Lyle Talbot as a mad scientist who performs experiments regarding "the criminal mind" on captured criminals onboard his private ship.Show more

SYNOPSIS
A mad scientist performs experiments on "the criminal mind" on captured criminals on board his private ship.

CAST & CREW
Lyle Talbot as Lt. Bob Bennett
Irving Pichel as Dr. Herbert Stander
Julie Bishop as Joan Martel
Sheila Bromley as Poison Mary Slavish
Anthony Averill as Dirk - Stander's Aide
Russell Hopton as Harry "The Carver" Bogard
Julian Madison as Paul - Stander's Aide
Eddie Holden as Ole Olson
Wheeler Oakman as John Ritter
Stanley Blystone as Captain Mike Briggs
Leander De Cordova as Ezra Matthews
Demetrius Alexis as Steve Murano
Skelton Knaggs as Jesse Bixel

Directed by Victor Halperin
Screenplay by George Sayre, Harvey Huntley
Based on "A Thousand Deaths" by Jack London
Produced by Ben Judell, Sigmund Neufeld
Cinematography Jack Greenhalgh
Edited by Holbrook Todd
Production company Producers Distributing Corporation
Distributed by Producers Distributing Corporation
Release date October 22, 1939
Running time 64 minutes
Country United States
Language English

NOTES
The film is based on the short story "A Thousand Deaths" by Jack London originally published in Black Cat Magazine in May 1899.

By the end of the first week of August 1939, George Sayre and Harvey Huntley completed the script for Torture Ship and the film was scheduled to start on August 14 but was held back. Filming was then set to begin by the last week of August but no cast was yet assembled. The cast was announced in September with John Miller originally set to play Jesse, though Skelton Knaggs appears in the final film.

Torture Ship was distributed by Producers Distributing Corporation on October 22, 1939.

From contemporary reviews, "Herb." of Variety noted the acting in the film stating "there can be no quarrel with the acting of the princpals" but that Torture Ship was a "quickie action thriller that misses fire [sic] all the way on its possibilities" and that the film "has so many unreasonable and unexplainable points that it will annoy even the most jueve-minded [sic] "The Film Daily also praised the film's acting while finding Halperin's direction as "O.K." while declaring the film "has enough punch and drama to satisfy the nabe trade."