Lastly, the score by Ernest Gold is quite understated and strong, incorporating heavy Germanic and Spanish elements at the appropriate times. (The ship’s entertainment and ad hoc brothel is a Spanish family.)
While sometimes obvious (like the addressing of the Jewish commentary and the rise of Nazism) the film also makes more subtle comments about aging, class struggle, and more. Truly a film deeper than most would appreciate or enjoy.
Most of you would get it though, right? Ship of Fools has often been likened to Grand Hotel at sea, and perhaps that is true. As much as I enjoyed the film, I can’t honestly say run and buy the DVD as Columbia has done a really poor job with its rather bare release of the film on DVD. The sound and video quality is fine, and I can live without oodles of supplemental material (which is rare for most classic releases), but Columbia hasn’t even maintained the original aspect ratio of the film. Viewers beware!