The Captain's Paradise

1953

Action / Comedy / Romance

7
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 70% · 5 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 70% · 100 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.8/10 10 1904 1.9K

black and white

Plot summary

Mediterranean ferryboat captain Henry St James has things well organized - a loving and very English wife Maud in Gibraltar, and the loving if rather more hot-blooded Mistress, Nita in Tangiers. A perfect life. As long as neither woman decides to follow him to the other port.

Director

Anthony Kimmins Photo
Anthony Kimmins

Top cast

Roger Delgado Photo
Roger Delgado as Kalikan Policeman
Yvonne De Carlo Photo
Yvonne De Carlo as Nita
Alec Guinness Photo
Alec Guinness as Captain Henry St. James
Tutte Lemkow Photo
Tutte Lemkow as Principal Dancer
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
817.93 MB
946*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 29 min
Seeds 3
1.48 GB
1408*1072
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 29 min
Seeds 1

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by jaybob 8 / 10

A delight in 1953 & still a delight in 2006

The Captains Paradise is a charming delightful comedy.Alec Guiness is wonderful as always, this time as a ferry-boat Captain, ferrying between Gibralter & Morrocco,(Kalik in film). he happens to have a wife in Gibralter (Celia Johnson) & a lover in Morrocco (Yvonne deCarlo). Censors at the time did not allow him to have 2 wives at same time. It would be a spoiler to tell you more. This was filmed on location (filming on actual sites was still somewhat of a rarity in 1953. Gibralter & Tangier were very picturesque & it did add to the enjoyment.The running time is only 86 minutes which is perfect timing for this type comedy. If this was made today, they would drag it out to near the 2 hour mark.Rating *** (out of 4) points 88 (out of 100) IMDb 8 (out of 10)
Reviewed by holy1 8 / 10

A element of paradise not to be overlooked

News today of the recent death of Yvonnne De Carlo brings this movie back into my mind. I saw it during a period of my life when I had for several years had few opportunities to go to the movies. I had been a student priest in Rome and movie houses were off limits for us. Away on summer holidays in 1953, I caught up with the movie at a cinema in Vienna that was showing English language movies for the benefit of the English military personnel, part of the post World War II occupation force in the Austrian capital. I was allowed to sneak in.But quite apart from the fact that it was a welcome interlude in a period of drought in my movie watching life, the movie remains in my memory as one of the cleverest comedies I have seen. Not side splitting, it is true. But excellent English wit. And the final scene is unforgettable.The movies is entitled "The captain's paradise" Reading the IMDb user's comments, I see they correctly note two reasons why the ship captain's life style was a paradise. His homely English wife in Gibraltar and his party going Spanish wife in North Africa. But there was a third element that none of them seem to note as a factor in the captain's happy situation. At sea, at meal times women are rigidly excluded from the captain's table. Those seated with the captain are diplomats, explorers, scientists and suchlike. All of them males. The third paradise element in the captain's life is the enjoyment of male company and conversation at meals. This link with the film's title needs to be remembered. No wonder the script received an Oscar nomination.There is one aspect of the movie on which I would like another viewer to enlighten me. How did Yvonne De Carlo come to be in this very English movie ? Today after hearing word of her death I looked in IMDb at her listed appearances. From being Moses' wife in Ten Commandments to being the mother in The Munsters, pretty well every role seems to be in a United States production. How did she find her place in a Ealing comedy? But at least it was a most welcome appearance and I am glad she hopped the Atlantic for this one.
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