Morituri
Release date: 1965-08-24
Votes: 82
Genres: Action, Drama, Thriller, War
A German living in India during World War II is blackmailed by the English to impersonate an SS officer on board a cargo ship leaving Japan for Germany carrying a large supply of rubber for tyres. His mission is to disable the scuttling charges so the captain cannot sink the ship if they are stopped by English warships.
Reviews
Wuchak
***WWII suspense/drama about a freighter in the Pacific with Brando and Brynner*** A German expatriate pacifist (Marlon Brando) is forced to pose as an SS Standard Leader for the purpose of disabling the scuttling charges on a merchant ship carrying rubber vital to the German war effort. Yul Brynner plays the disillusioned captain (Mueller), Martin Benrath the gun-ho first officer (Kruse), Janet Margolin an abused Jewess captive (Esther) and Hans Christian Blech a notable crewman (Donkeyman). Released in 1965 and unfortunately shot in B&W, “Morituri” is a suspense/drama taking place almost entirely on the freighter in the Pacific. The first 50 minutes are kinda meh as “Mr. Kyle” (Brando) sneaks around the ship disabling explosives and it’s not very believable. From there, though, the dramatics get interesting as suspense builds to an unexpected climax. Margolin’s character is desirable, but sad. The inscrutable title comes from the Latin morituri te salutant meaning “We who are about to die salute you.” At the end of the day “Morituri” is a must for fans of Brando or Brynner, not to mention those interested in 60’s WWII flicks. While not great, it’s a worthwhile antidote to modern blockbuster drivel (speaking as someone who enjoys a CGI-laden blockbuster now and then). The film runs 2 hours, 3 minutes. GRADE: B/B-
CinemaSerf
"Crain" (Marlon Brando) is quietly sitting out WWII at his home in India when he gets a visit from the "Col. Statter" (Trevor Howard) who delivers a few home truths in order to get him to volunteer to help commandeer a ship loaded with rubber leaving Japan and heading to Nazi controlled Bordeaux. His task is to use his expertise to disable the scuttling explosives hard-wired aboard in the event of any aggressor interfering with it's journey. As it happens, the newly appointed captain of the boat - "Mueller" (Yul Brynner) - is not best pleased at having his crew supplemented by a group of ne'er-do-wells that would not have looked out of place with "Long John Silver". "Crain - now called "Kyle" must find out where the bombs are located and disable them without being spotted and when he discovers that the design of the ship will make that impossible on his own, he has to find help... Who to turn to? As the journey progresses the relationship between him an in increasingly suspicious captain, crew and some newly acquired passengers becomes crucial to his success. Bernhard Wicki makes the most of the cast he has and there is a strong sense of accumulating menace as pretty much everyone starts to suspect the others and control of the boat becomes distinctly precarious. Brando is on good form, as in Brynner and there are solid supporting efforts from Hans Christian Blech and from Martin Bebrath's executive officer "Kruse". The narrative takes a swipe at the Nazi party's obsessive control freakery and Jerry Goldsmith has written a score that works the tension well as the denouement - and not one I was expecting - looms large. Rarely seen nowadays, and folks unschooled in Latin might be put off by the title - but it is well worth a watch.
Movie Recommendation
In a Lonely Place1950-05-17A violent screenwriter and a female neighbor fall in love after she clears him of murder, but she begins to have second thoughts.More...
48 Hrs.1982-12-07A hard-nosed cop reluctantly teams up with a wise-cracking criminal temporarily paroled to him, in order to track down a killer.More...
Don't Say a Word2001-09-28When the daughter of a psychiatrist is kidnapped, he is horrified to discover that the abductors' demand is that he break through to a young woman, suffering from PTSD, who knows a secret six digit code number.More...
Matewan1987-08-28Filmed in the coal country of West Virginia, "Matewan" celebrates labor organizing in the context of a 1920s work stoppage. Union organizer, Joe Kenehan, a scab named "Few Clothes" Johnson and a sympathetic mayor and police chief heroically fight the power represented by a coal company and Matewan's vested interests so that justice and workers' rights need not take a back seat to squalid working conditions, exploitation and the bottom line.More...
Devdas2002-07-11In 1900s India, Calcuttan zamindar Devdas Mukherjee — unable to marry his lover — takes up alcohol and the company of a courtesan to alleviate the pain.More...
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!1965-08-06A trio of thrill-seeking go-go dancers kidnap a young girl and attempt to seduce an old rancher and his two sons out of their small fortune, but their scheme doesn't play out as intended.More...
Man of a Thousand Faces1957-08-15The turbulent life and professional career of vaudeville actor and silent screen horror star Lon Chaney (1883-1930), the man of a thousand faces; bearer of many personal misfortunes that even his great success could not mitigate.More...
One Minute to Zero1952-09-19An idealistic United Nations official learns the harrowing truth about war when she falls in love with an American officer charged with the evacuation of civilians. As hostilities escalate, the officer and his small detachment are left to hold the line until allied forces can be brought into action.More...
Parasite2019-05-30All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.More...
Rear Window1954-08-01A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.More...
Zombieland2009-10-02Columbus has made a habit of running from what scares him. Tallahassee doesn't have fears. If he did, he'd kick their ever-living ass. In a world overrun by zombies, these two are perfectly evolved survivors. But now, they're about to stare down the most terrifying prospect of all: each other.More...
Grease1978-06-16Australian good girl Sandy and greaser Danny fell in love over the summer. But when they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance despite their eccentric friends?More...
Fantastic Mr. Fox2009-10-14The Fantastic Mr. Fox, bored with his current life, plans a heist against the three local farmers. The farmers, tired of sharing their chickens with the sly fox, seek revenge against him and his family.More...
La La Land2016-12-01Mia, an aspiring actress, serves lattes to movie stars in between auditions and Sebastian, a jazz musician, scrapes by playing cocktail party gigs in dingy bars, but as success mounts they are faced with decisions that begin to fray the fragile fabric of their love affair, and the dreams they worked so hard to maintain in each other threaten to rip them apart.More...
A Nightmare on Elm Street1984-11-09Teenagers in a small town are dropping like flies, apparently in the grip of mass hysteria causing their suicides. A cop's daughter, Nancy Thompson, traces the cause to child molester Fred Krueger, who was burned alive by angry parents many years before. Krueger has now come back in the dreams of his killers' children, claiming their lives as his revenge. Nancy and her boyfriend, Glen, must devise a plan to lure the monster out of the realm of nightmares and into the real world...More...
A Serbian Film2010-01-06Retired porn star Milos leads a normal family life trying to make ends meet. Presented with the opportunity of a lifetime to financially support his family for the rest of their lives, Milos must participate in one last mysterious film. From then on, Milos is drawn into a maelstrom of unbelievable cruelty and mayhem.More...
Fargo1996-03-08Jerry, a small-town Minnesota car salesman is bursting at the seams with debt... but he's got a plan. He's going to hire two thugs to kidnap his wife in a scheme to collect a hefty ransom from his wealthy father-in-law. It's going to be a snap and nobody's going to get hurt... until people start dying. Enter Police Chief Marge, a coffee-drinking, parka-wearing - and extremely pregnant - investigator who'll stop at nothing to get her man. And if you think her small-time investigative skills will give the crooks a run for their ransom... you betcha!More...
Trading Places1983-06-07A snobbish investor and a wily street con-artist find their positions reversed as part of a bet by two callous millionaires.More...
Holidate2020-10-27Fed up with being single on holidays, two strangers agree to be each other's platonic plus-ones all year long, only to catch real feelings along the way.More...
The Silence of the Lambs1991-02-14Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.More...
Similar Movies
Why I'm Alive
2021-11-04Mariupol. Pre-war life in a small Ukrainian town on the shore of the Azov Sea, with a good family life, quarrelsome neighbors, amateur opera, denunciations to the NKVD, and a dance floor in the city garden, the persecution of religion and, of course, with love.RaRepublic
2019-09-21A well-known publisher - Melchior Wańkowicz asks famous writer Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz to create a reportage about "success a la Polonaise". Tadeusz goes with his assistant Diana on a journey to do a series of interviews and meet historical, distinguished personalities. The initial antipathy between Tadeusz and Diana turns into friendship first, and then into... Who will the pair of our heroes meet? How will their relationship develop? What successes and achievements of the young Polish state will they learn about? We invite you to watch Niepospolita (The Unique)!Johnny Angel
1945-10-25George Raft plays a sailor who sets out to solve his father's mysterious death.The Charge of the Lig...
1968-04-10During the Crimean War between Britain and Russia in the 1850s, a British cavalry division, led by the overbearing Lord Cardigan, engages in an infamously reckless strategic debacle against a Russian artillery battery.Stevie
1978-09-15For a poet with a gift for crafting words into barbs, Stevie Smith lives a relatively conventional life. Sheltered in a London suburb, she spends her days engaged in tedious housework, crafting verse and conversing with her aunt. But while her body may be committed to drudgery, Stevie's mind is constantly trying to break free, which causes her to rail against religion and middle-class values, and prevents her from finding happiness with a man interested in her.Marionette
2020-09-28A therapist loses her grip on reality when a ten-year-old boy claims he can control her future.Sleepless
2001-01-05An elderly and retired police detective and a young amateur sleuth team up to find a serial killer whom has resumed a killing spree in Turin, Italy after a 17-year hiatus.Ju Dou
1990-04-21A woman married to the brutal and infertile owner of a dye mill in rural China conceives a boy with her husband's nephew but is forced to raise her son as her husband's heir without revealing his parentage in this circular tragedy. Filmed in glowing technicolour, this tale of romantic and familial love in the face of unbreakable tradition is more universal than its setting.The War Bride
2001-03-21During World War II, a Cockney woman marries a Canadian soldier and adjusts to life in Alberta.Surviving Picasso
1996-09-04The passionate Merchant-Ivory drama tells the story of Francoise Gilot, the only lover of Pablo Picasso who was strong enough to withstand his ferocious cruelty and move on with her life.The Violators
1957-11-30A New York City probation officer, noted for his sympathy with delinquents, put to a severe test when his daughter falls for a boy whom circumstances force into breaking the law.Hamburger Hill
1987-08-07The men of Bravo Company are facing a battle that's all uphill… up Hamburger Hill. Fourteen war-weary soldiers are battling for a mud-covered mound of earth so named because it chews up soldiers like chopped meat. They are fighting for their country, their fellow soldiers and their lives. War is hell, but this is worse. Hamburger Hill tells it the way it was, the way it really was. It's a raw, gritty and totally unrelenting dramatic depiction of one of the fiercest battles of America's bloodiest war. This happened. Hamburger Hill - war at its worst, men at their best.Sleeping with the Ene...
1991-01-13A young woman fakes her own death in an attempt to escape her nightmarish marriage, but discovers it is impossible to elude her controlling husband.The Counterfeiters
2007-03-22The story of Jewish counterfeiter Salomon Sorowitsch, who was coerced into assisting the Nazi operation of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp during World War II.Hart's War
2002-02-15When Col. William McNamara is stripped of his freedom in a German POW camp, he's determined to keep on fighting even from behind enemy lines. Enlisting the help of a young lieutenant in a brilliant plot against his captors, McNamara risks everything on a mission to free his men and change the outcome of the war.Five Came Back
2017-03-31The extraordinary story of how Hollywood changed World War II – and how World War II changed Hollywood, through the interwoven experiences of five legendary filmmakers who went to war to serve their country and bring the truth to the American people: John Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank Capra, and George Stevens. Based on Mark Harris’ best-selling book, “Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War.”Suite Française
2015-03-12France, 1940. In the first days of occupation, beautiful Lucile Angellier is trapped in a stifled existence with her controlling mother-in-law as they both await news of her husband: a prisoner of war. Parisian refugees start to pour into their small town, soon followed by a regiment of German soldiers who take up residence in the villagers' own homes. Lucile initially tries to ignore Bruno von Falk, the handsome and refined German officer staying with them. But soon, a powerful love draws them together and leads them into the tragedy of war.The Hero: Love Story ...
2003-04-10Arun Khanna is a spy for the Indian government whose aid is enlisted to stop ISI Chief Ishak Khan. Khan is trying to build a nuclear bomb with which he can liberate Kashmir from the Indians. A battle of wits ensues. When Khan detonates a bomb at Khanna's engagement party to a fellow spy, Khanna's resolve is only strengthened. Now not only does he have to fight Khan, but he also has to track down his missing fiancee.Welcome to Dongmakgol...
2005-08-04Based on the long running play by Jang Jin, the story is set in Korea during the Korean War in 1950. Soldiers from both the North and South, as well as an American pilot, find themselves in a secluded and naively idealistic village, its residents unaware of the outside world, including the war.Wounded in the Forest...
1964-04-14While hiding from the Germans in the forest, young Polish corporal tries hard to fulfill his order to take care of a wounded lieutenant and wait for the doctor and transportation to come.