RKO horror producer
Val Lewton dished up seven reels of brooding psychological terror with The Ghost Ship.
Richard Dix stars as the ship's captain, a tortured soul who teeters on the verge of madness. Seaman
Russell Wade notices the captain's deterioration, but his warnings are dismissed by the crew. Captain Dix completely goes over the edge, sadistically playing a game of cat and mouse with the luckless Wade--and endangering the lives of everyone on board. While the viewer may notice that
Ghost Ship closely resembles the Jack London tale The Sea Wolf, playwrights Samuel R. Golding and Norbert Faulkner felt that the film was too close for comfort to an unproduced play of their own. The writers sued RKO, forcing the studio to withdraw
Ghost Ship from theatres and prohibiting future TV showings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide