Les mutinés de l'Elseneur

With a script based on a Jack London novel , it seems obvious that highly talented director Pierre Chenal is more at ease in film noir ("l'affaire Laffarge ", " le dernier tournant" )than in seafaring adventures ;the screenplay is disjointed and the principals ,lacking any charisma , get in the way: the journalist( whose story is based on the writer's own experiences ) turns overnight from harmful passenger to born leader ;even the scene of the murder of the captain is weak ,which is amazing considering Chenal' s flair for film noir.

The supporting cast walks out with the honors and saves the movie; Lucas Gridoux' s obsession with the captain's niece would not have been out of place in Chenal's films noirs;but the standout is Le Vigan ,absolutely stupefying as a "sick " sailor ;he has a tendency to overplay ,but perhaps he thought it was necessary to give the movie the craziness it terribly lacks.