Filmmakers often strive for realism when they make thrillers to provide a believable foundation for their heroics. Few producer-directors have, however, ever gone to the trouble that Andrew and Virginia Stone did when they made The Last Voyage (1960), for they rented a real ocean liner (the just-retired Ile de France) and partially sunk her in order to make their ship-sinking melodrama altruistic.

The suspense begins immediately after the opening credits when a note is passed to the ship’s captain (George Sanders): FIRE IN THE ENGINE ROOM. From that point, the narrative divides into three crisscrossing threads: the crew’s gallant efforts to keep the Claridon afloat; the captain’s reluctance to ask other ships for aid; and the main storyline involving a passenger (Robert Stack) trying to rescue his young daughter (Tammy Marihugh) and his trapped wife (Dorothy Malone). Crossing between sections of the story are the ship’s engine room officer (Edmond O’Brien) and his strongest midshipman (Woody Strode).

One I reason I like this movie so much is because it doesn’t pause or slow down for theatrics. Once the boiler blows, the ship starts to sink and everyone on board realizes that fact. While a few soap-opera-ish moments are unavoidable, this movie moves, and its suspense is utterly convincing. Much of the real ship was actually demolished during filming; when lensing was complete, the half-sunken ship was re-floated and towed to a scrap yard.

Another factor in its favor is Woody Strode. This was the first film I had ever seen where a black man was just as heroic, if not more so, than his white counterparts. Strode, a former football player, plays his entire role shirtless and is quite impressive, physically and dramatically. He made Spartacus and Sergeant Rutledge the same year, which is one terrific triumverate.

If the story seems a bit bland and familiar today, it’s because The Last Voyage  originated the formula (minus the obligatory all-star supporting case, many of whom perish) that would be copied a decade later when the disaster-film cycle overwhelmed Hollywood. The Stones made the conscious decision to develop only a handful of important characters and tell the story through their perspectives. But apart from a lack of famous faces in the background, this movie sets the paradigm that the others would copy.

Its documentary-style approach and sometimes sappy narration may fail to thrill modern viewers, but its other elements should. The Last Voyage is a taut and exciting film, told compactly and succinctly, with a surprising lack of sensationalism and a high degree of verisimilitude. It’s a winner in my book. My rating: ✰ ✰ ✰. (8:4).