Brod Crawford is fresh off his Oscar win, so he gets top billing in CARGO TO CAPETOWN but he's really playing a second lead role. The main character is played by John Ireland who is third-billed.
Ireland is perfectly cast as a no-nonsense captain who is hired to complete a voyage hauling barrels of oil to Cape Town. He will be sailing through patches of rough weather, so he needs to assemble a crew of dependable men, and it is essential that he find a good engineer. When he runs into his old pal Crawford at a waterfront bar, it looks as if his problems may be solved.
Crawford was a severe alcoholic in real life, and he's playing a character with great fondness for booze. It wouldn't surprise me if he was actually drunk in many of these scenes...especially the part where he tumbles up, not down, a flight of steps trying to board the Mokara vessel at the beginning of the story. Lucky for him, Mr. Ireland is there to pick him up more than once.
The leading lady in this picture is Ellen Drew who was starting to look middle aged by this point of her career. But of course, she is still glamorous. However, it does require a suspension of disbelief when she is caught in a typhoon on the deck of the ship and manages to keep her hair almost perfectly styled. That's Hollywood for you.
The heart of the story is a romance drama in which Ireland and Crawford both get tangled up in a love triangle with Miss Drew. Crawford is planning to stay on land, because he's supposed to marry Drew. But since he is needed to work on Ireland's ship, he has been shanghaied. When Drew finds out Ireland kidnapped her fiance, she hurries on to the ship before it leaves the Dutch East Indies to reclaim Crawford and take him home. She pulls a gun on Ireland to let him know she means business.
Of course he overpowers her, and she ends up remaining on board for the whole journey. Complicating matters is the fact that Drew was once involved with Ireland and things went south. She still has feelings for the guy, but she's committed to Crawford who is in the dark about her past. It is implied she was a prostitute.
There's an interesting subplot involving an orphan boy (Robert Espinoza) who is befriended by Ireland. Despite his inexperience, he gets a job assisting the men while they're at sea. The boy's dream is to become a captain one day like Ireland. When the typhoon hits, the kid gets tossed around on the deck. As the storm rages, he ends up falling below, where barrels of oil have come loose and roll on top of him. He is severely injured and his bandaged leg will require an operation.
This causes Ireland to make a decision to stray off course to a nearby island where a doctor can be sought to help the boy. But the youngster is afraid this will mean the ship won't make it to South Africa on schedule, so he tries to kill himself. He is prevented from committing suicide, but dies a short time later anyway. Heavy stuff!
While all of this is going on in Ireland's quarters, Crawford is down below and learns from a crew member (Ted de Corsia) that Ireland and Drew share a past. Crawford, in between drinks, starts to panic that Drew will choose Ireland over him. He confronts Ireland who insists that what he and the woman had is over and there's no going back.
Meanwhile there are other mishaps that occur. One incident involves a crew member who nearly dies after falling into a vat of oil. Ireland and de Corsia pull the man out, but then de Corsia, who has issues of his own, tries to kill Ireland and winds up in the brig awaiting trial.
At the same time Crawford decides to rush his marriage to Drew, which Ireland will officiate as captain. They couple do exchange vows, but it's clear Drew is already regretting her decision. She doesn't have time to dwell on the mistake, though, when a fire breaks out. It is not a typical fire, since with all that oil stored below, the ship is now a powder keg waiting to explode.
In a climatic sequence, Ireland and Crawford put on fire suits and head into the blaze to get at the root of the problem. It looks like Crawford will probably die to facilitate a happy ending for Ireland and Drew, but he doesn't. However, he is critically injured and while recovering has time to reconsider his marriage. As the Mokara pulls into the harbor at Cape Town, Crawford does the honorable thing and tells Drew he is going to give her an annulment so she can be with Ireland, since she loves him more. Crawford will be able to console himself with some cheap liquor.
Ireland is perfectly cast as a no-nonsense captain who is hired to complete a voyage hauling barrels of oil to Cape Town. He will be sailing through patches of rough weather, so he needs to assemble a crew of dependable men, and it is essential that he find a good engineer. When he runs into his old pal Crawford at a waterfront bar, it looks as if his problems may be solved.
Crawford was a severe alcoholic in real life, and he's playing a character with great fondness for booze. It wouldn't surprise me if he was actually drunk in many of these scenes...especially the part where he tumbles up, not down, a flight of steps trying to board the Mokara vessel at the beginning of the story. Lucky for him, Mr. Ireland is there to pick him up more than once.
The leading lady in this picture is Ellen Drew who was starting to look middle aged by this point of her career. But of course, she is still glamorous. However, it does require a suspension of disbelief when she is caught in a typhoon on the deck of the ship and manages to keep her hair almost perfectly styled. That's Hollywood for you.
The heart of the story is a romance drama in which Ireland and Crawford both get tangled up in a love triangle with Miss Drew. Crawford is planning to stay on land, because he's supposed to marry Drew. But since he is needed to work on Ireland's ship, he has been shanghaied. When Drew finds out Ireland kidnapped her fiance, she hurries on to the ship before it leaves the Dutch East Indies to reclaim Crawford and take him home. She pulls a gun on Ireland to let him know she means business.
Of course he overpowers her, and she ends up remaining on board for the whole journey. Complicating matters is the fact that Drew was once involved with Ireland and things went south. She still has feelings for the guy, but she's committed to Crawford who is in the dark about her past. It is implied she was a prostitute.
There's an interesting subplot involving an orphan boy (Robert Espinoza) who is befriended by Ireland. Despite his inexperience, he gets a job assisting the men while they're at sea. The boy's dream is to become a captain one day like Ireland. When the typhoon hits, the kid gets tossed around on the deck. As the storm rages, he ends up falling below, where barrels of oil have come loose and roll on top of him. He is severely injured and his bandaged leg will require an operation.
This causes Ireland to make a decision to stray off course to a nearby island where a doctor can be sought to help the boy. But the youngster is afraid this will mean the ship won't make it to South Africa on schedule, so he tries to kill himself. He is prevented from committing suicide, but dies a short time later anyway. Heavy stuff!
While all of this is going on in Ireland's quarters, Crawford is down below and learns from a crew member (Ted de Corsia) that Ireland and Drew share a past. Crawford, in between drinks, starts to panic that Drew will choose Ireland over him. He confronts Ireland who insists that what he and the woman had is over and there's no going back.
Meanwhile there are other mishaps that occur. One incident involves a crew member who nearly dies after falling into a vat of oil. Ireland and de Corsia pull the man out, but then de Corsia, who has issues of his own, tries to kill Ireland and winds up in the brig awaiting trial.
At the same time Crawford decides to rush his marriage to Drew, which Ireland will officiate as captain. They couple do exchange vows, but it's clear Drew is already regretting her decision. She doesn't have time to dwell on the mistake, though, when a fire breaks out. It is not a typical fire, since with all that oil stored below, the ship is now a powder keg waiting to explode.
In a climatic sequence, Ireland and Crawford put on fire suits and head into the blaze to get at the root of the problem. It looks like Crawford will probably die to facilitate a happy ending for Ireland and Drew, but he doesn't. However, he is critically injured and while recovering has time to reconsider his marriage. As the Mokara pulls into the harbor at Cape Town, Crawford does the honorable thing and tells Drew he is going to give her an annulment so she can be with Ireland, since she loves him more. Crawford will be able to console himself with some cheap liquor.