Pacific Liner
| Pacific Liner | |
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Theatrical film poster
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| Directed by | Lew Landers |
| Produced by | Robert Sisk |
| Screenplay by | John Twist |
| Story by |
Anthony Coldeway Henry Roberts Symonds |
| Starring |
Victor McLaglen Chester Morris Wendy Barrie |
| Music by | Robert Russell Bennett (uncredited) |
| Cinematography | Nicholas Musuraca |
| Edited by | Harry Marker |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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76 mins. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $241,000 |
| Box office | $508,000 |
Pacific Liner is a 1939 American action/adventure film directed by Lew Landers. The film stars Victor McLaglen, Chester Morris and Wendy Barrie. Pacific Liner depicts the ill-fated voyage of a disease-ridden passenger liner.
In 1932, aboard the passenger ship, the S.S. Arcturus, engineer "Crusher" McKay (Victor McLaglen) runs a "tight ship", both beloved and feared by his men. The ship's doctor, "Doc" Tony Craig (Chester Morris), has signed on in Shanghai to be on the San Francisco bound trip. He wants to be near his former sweetheart, nurse Ann Grayson (Wendy Barrie).
Crusher is also attracted to Ann but his clumsy courtship soon sets up a rivalry between him and the Doc. While under way, a Chinese stowaway infected with cholera is discovered below decks. Both Doc and Crusher are at odds with what to do. While still far from shore, the disease spreads to the men who are working on the ship's boilers. Crusher orders the doors to the decks above bolted shut, so that passengers have no idea of what is happening below. While the upper-class is being sheltered, the stokers down below begin to get sick.
As panic breaks out, with Crusher's men stricken by cholera, Ann and Doc try to keep the disease isolated. The dead stokers have to be fed into the steamship's boilers. When Crusher falls ill, his men begin to mutiny and only his stubborn determination keeps the boilers stoked. The medical team on topside is thrown together, with Ann and Doc rekindling their previous romance. Crusher's bravery eventually brings the S.S. Arcturus safely to San Francisco.
Principal photography on Pacific Liner began mid-October 1938. In 1937, RKO corporate head Leo Spitz had moved away from the earlier "prestige pictures" that had often been critically acclaimed but financial disasters. He had not invested heavily in projects such as Pacific Liner, which had been originally intended to be released as an "exploitation quickie". With reliable B-movie director Lew Landers in charge, however, the result was predictably brought "... to the screen with his usual feeling for action, and attention to narrative development ...", belying its modest status as a "B".
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