Review – Spy Ship

Yeesh, what a ham-handed piece of propaganda. This movie has a lot in common with its pre-war predecessors from Warner Brothers. We’ve got fifth columnists trying to keep the United States out of World War Two. However, this one was made in 1942, clearing the way for even more flagrant racism (including a Japanese character guaranteed to make 21st-century audiences cringe). Symptomatic scene: the valiant reporter who cracks the spy ring chucks one of the malefactors over the side of the title vessel, shoots him in the water and justifies it with a “That’s for Pearl Harbor!” Most of the plot revolves around a pair of sisters, one of whom is in love with the hero. The other is a saboteur-for-hire working for the Nazis. The most disappointing aspect of the production is the complete lack of subtlety. The bad guys are all bad – filled with greed, deceit, you name it – and the good guys are all good. Though that’s perfectly in keeping with action movies of the era, it doesn’t make for a particularly good spy movie. See if desperate