Botany Bay

In Sheridan Morley's biography "James Mason: Odd Man Out", the author claimed "Botany Bay" dashed any hopes James had that he would receive more elevated acting roles after appearing as Brutus in Joseph Mankiewicz's "Julius Caesar". This smacked of theatrical snobbery, however Mason also seemed disdainful saying, "At it's worst, my Hollywood life was a matter of facile assembly work like Botany Bay".

However, Mason injected that disdain into his role as Captain Gilbert creating a witty, arrogant villain with the evil charm of his Phillip Vandamm from "North by Northwest" crossed with the martinet brutality of Captain Bligh. Alan Ladd movies worked best when he had an animated adversary or sidekick to counterpoint his quiet, unruffable demeanour, Mason gave him one of the best villains in any of his films.

Mason played the captain of the three-masted Charlotte, part of "The First Fleet" transporting the first convicts from England to Botany Bay in New South Wales. In the hold is innocent American doctor, Hugh Tallant (Alan Ladd) and not so innocent Sally (Patricia Medina), an actress fallen in with rough company. There is history in there somewhere but the facts weren't allowed to get in the way of the story.

Following "Two Years Before the Mast" onboard the Pilgrim, this was Alan Ladd's second cruise under a tough captain. Not so much the fictional ship's masters, but the "master" of both films, director John Farrow, an ex-naval commander who had a reputation for being an SOB on set.

Both films were studio bound hell cruises, but "Botany Bay" is more fun. Compare the 20 lashes Alan Ladd's character receives on the orders of the Pilgrim's captain played by Howard da Silva, which lays him up in his bunk recovering for days, while he treats the 50 lashes he receives from Mason's Captain Gilbert as though the cat-o-nine-tails was made of pyjama cords. And what about the female convicts fighting on the deck with Patricia Medina right in the thick of it suffering a torn sleeve, but without a smudge of her lipstick?

Historical liberties were taken including composer Franz Waxman incorporating "Advance Australia Fair" into his score although it wasn't composed until 1878. A didgeridoo would have been more authentic for 1788. Nevertheless, try to catch a good print of this film; although just about all the scenes were shot in the studio it has a rich look.

Farrow and Mason could be difficult men, but in a 1999 documentary, "Alan Ladd: The True Quiet Man", we learn that Alan Ladd was considerate, courteous and liked in an industry where egos often ran riot. Patricia Medina said that he had a quality that made her feel almost maternal about him. However, he had inner demons; he is one of Hollywood's tragic stars.

I think "Botany Bay" is one of John Farrow's better films, and it's the scene stealing from Mason and Medina, despite floggings, keel-hauling and plague, that helps make it so.

As of this date, the only other IMDb comment on this title is one with which I can agree. I saw it during its neighborhood run in the year of its release and recall that it did, indeed, look like the budget must have been rather minuscule. But James Mason's performance is one that I can still remember as entirely disturbing for a young moviegoer not yet in his teens. What an actor! He made this film, which Paramount obviously treated as just a programmer, quite an experience. If remade today, I suppose we'd have Mel Gibson in the Alan Ladd role and, perhaps, Geoffrey Rush trying to imitate Mason's indelible portrait, plus some authentic Australian locations. But once was enough, for it was quite a grim experience, and the brutality that would probably be gruesomely depicted today would be more than I'd pay to see!

Here's another film about transporting prisoners to Australia in the 18th century. I can't comment on the accuracy of the history here but this is a subject that often gets used as the backdrop to films or TV series. It does allow scope for adventure, a bit of swashbuckling, usually a dose of brutality and often a pretty heroine. All are present here with Alan Ladd as a doctor wrongly accused of highway robbery, the beautiful and perhaps underrated Patricia Medina as the heroine, Sir Cedric Hardwicke as the governor at Botany Bay and best of all, James Mason as the brutal sea captain giving one of his most charismatic performances ever that I've seen and that's many. Mason simply steals every scene he's in and you can't take your eyes off him and he certainly gives. Charles Laughton a run for the money in Mutiny On The Bounty. I understand it was all shot on backlots at Paramount which can give a claustraphobic feel when it needed opening up with location work but even so passes a couple of hours fairly successfully.

Alan Ladd completed his Paramount contract with this blighted version of Nordhoff & Hall's 1941 novel which (since plague features in the plot) ironically had to be rescheduled around a nasty bout of 'flu that confined him to bed for several days during production.

Despite an interesting cast (with James Mason absolutely loathsome as the brutal captain, who later recalled he found director John Farrow's own cruelty on the set gave him "some useful hints"), rich Technicolor photography by veteran cameraman John Seitz, frequent floggings, a keelhauling and other unpleasantness, the studio-bound end result is surprisingly garrulous and uninvolving.

This was a speciality of Paramount Pictures to make adventures yarns: see for instance Edward Ludwig or even Lewis R Foster's colourful flicks. This one makes no exception, it remains in the house tradition and style, atmosphere and efficiency too. Alan Ladd does his job with not great conviction but that's OK. Mason is good as the evil captain, though not being Chuck Laughton in the 1936 version. Good movie for adventures features moviegoers.