Morituri (1965)

I re-watched this Brando-Yul Brynner film after almost a decade. I liked it a lot lesser this time. This is Brando's second film about intrigue and mutiny on a ship. He had acted in Mutiny on the Bounty three years earlier. It is also his second film as a German - he had acted as a sympathetic Nazi in The Young Lions. In Morituri, he plays a German engineer who is persuaded by the allied forces to impersonate a cruel SS officer while traveling on a German ship. His mission is to carry out sabotage so that the allied forces can steal the rubber which is the ship's cargo. Yul Brynner is the ship's Nazi hating captain.It really is a tepid anti-war film. There was not a single scene worth mentioning. There are a lot of wannabe clever, cynical and ironic dialogs. But nothing really works. The director fails to create any sort of tension. Brando's character easily fools everyone on the ship. Janet Margolin's Jewish character who is gang raped by prisoners on the ship (this happens towards the end of the film and by this time I was too bored to be shocked) is supposed to emphasize the film's anti-war message.There is a long tracking shot (almost certainly shot from a helicopter) where the camera pans the length of a ship while Yul Brynner passes orders down to the crew. But it adds nothing to the film.Brynner and Brando are introduced in two exotic locations - Tokyo and India respectively. Brando's performance deserves some praise. As usual, he is all body language. I love the way he carries himself. He did exude cruelty in many of the scenes. Brynner's role was too sentimental and over the top. His accent was quite painful to my ears. Jerry Goldsmith's laidback score reminded me of the one used in The Third Man.This must be one of the most uninspired war movies that I have ever watched.(5/10)

Morituri (1965) stars Marlon Brando, Yul Brynner, Trevor Howard, Janet Margolin, and Wally Cox. Morituri is Latin for "We who are about to die salute you."Brando plays Robert Crain, a German pacifist living in India during the Second World War. The Allies use blackmail to convince him to use his engineering expertise to disable a German ship carrying rubber from Japan. If he disables the "scuttling" mechanism of the ship, the Allies can recover the rubber, which was in short supply during World War II.Of course, no one knows why he is on the ship - he says he is a German official. The captain (Brynner) is a good German but he hates the Nazis. His first officer, however, is a party member. Some of the crew are political prisoners working due to labor shortages.Crain ultimately tells the prisoners his plan to give the ship to the Allies. Then some American prisoners and German naval officers are rescued from a Japanese submarine. Excellent film, with plenty of action as well as suspense. Both Brynner and Brando are excellent in their roles, Brando especially, sporting a perfect German accent and giving an underplayed performance. It's an old wives tale that Brando mumbled - he mumbled when the part called for it, and he had a good ear for accents. Sad to see Janet Margolin, who died of ovarian cancer at age 50.Recommended to those who like WW II films.

Two German citizens on different sides of the war effort find themselves at the center of a clandestine cargo-grab in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Marlon Brando plays the first, a pacifist expat who's arm-twisted into aiding British intelligence as a counter agent, while Yul Brynner takes charge as a disillusioned sea captain in charge of a precious Nazi payload. Though they're constantly at-odds, for reasons both above the surface and beneath, the two men have much more in common than either would like to admit. This makes for an interesting conflict, as both attempt to conceal a secret that would otherwise serve to potentially unite them. Commendable for the constant churn of its plot, which changes shape by the minute and drives its players to scramble in response, it deserves special marks for exploring the deep humanity of the cast. With but one exception, a first mate who's as dedicated to the Reich as Hitler himself, this vessel is awash in shades of grey, and that's a refreshing change of pace. Level-headed and even-handed, it keeps us guessing and even serves to shock on one jagged, violent occasion.

Finally saw this flick from the beginning by streaming it on Netflix. Slow pace by today's standards but worth slowing down for. Various motivations complicate and drive the plot.Was surprised it was in B&W in the mid-sixties but adds to atmosphere.Some good camera angles such as the one following a conspirator as he races from bow to stern to warn our hero.I find suspenseful and worth the viewer's "wait" for something to happen.But I'll admit I'm amused that Trevor Howard is "guest staring" like it's a series.As I noted at first, it can be seen with a Netflix account. Too bad that's the only way but that's where you'll find lots of good movies.BTW: look for Starfish Island on the Web and see what you get.