Tom Prior (Leslie Howard) is a heavy drinker and doesn't recall his previous night. Henry (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) and Ann (Helen Chandler) are a couple with dark plans. Rev. William Duke asks Mrs. Cliveden-Banks about the date. She is uncertain and insulted by the question. Mrs. Midget doesn't know where she is. They and other confused passengers are onboard a ship enclosed by permanent fog. Slowly, they realize the truth of the situation.
This is a pre-Code based on a play. There has been other remakes. The premise is an old one and has been used as foundational material for stories. Nowadays, the audience would suspect the big reveal right from the start. I do wonder if the audience of its day would be so quick. In the end, that's the only card up its sleeve. The movie has no other cards to play. The characters stumble around with the suspicion that none of their actions matter. That keeps the tension down. It's a slow boat to nowhere fast.
This is a pre-Code based on a play. There has been other remakes. The premise is an old one and has been used as foundational material for stories. Nowadays, the audience would suspect the big reveal right from the start. I do wonder if the audience of its day would be so quick. In the end, that's the only card up its sleeve. The movie has no other cards to play. The characters stumble around with the suspicion that none of their actions matter. That keeps the tension down. It's a slow boat to nowhere fast.