Back in the early to mid 1940s, Jon Hall was a very handsome leading man who made some wonderful escapist films for Universal Studios, such as "Cobra Woman", "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" and "The Hurricane". However, by the 1950s, Hall was no longer much of a box office draw and contented himself to work for some third-rate studios. In this case, "Hell Ship Mutiny", he made it for the minuscule Lovina Productions!
When the film begins, Captain Knight (Hall) arrives on an island only to discover that all the locals have been taken prisoner and are being used as slaves to do some incredibly deep dives for pears. Many of the folks die as a result and the evil Malone (John Carradine) couldn't care less. Fortunately, the Captain is able to escape and ends up taking these jerks prisoner. What ISN'T so fortunate is that after taking them aboard the ship so that he can take them to prison, they break loose and commandeer the ship. Can the Captain break free once again and save himself and the crew from these thugs? And, if he does, will his problems be over or will a new one be waiting for him when he lands the boat?
You know a film isn't all it's cracked up to be when the Captain has a pet chimp named 'Salty'. Salty's adorable in his little sailor costume but really unnecessary and silly. But the rest of the film isn't terrible. It's not really good because the writer had the baddies escape THREE times...and I would have just thought the Captain would have killed them before this! Not terrible as a time- passer but not much more. And certainly NOTHING like Hall's films with Universal.
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