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The Sin Ship

Alternate Title: Sheep's Clothing Director: Louis Wolheim (Dir) Release Date: 18 Apr 1931 Production Date: began 8 Sep 1930 Duration (in mins): 65 Duration (in feet): 5,829 Duration (in reels): 7			Print this page Display Movie Summary

Cast:	Louis Wolheim	(Captain Sam McVeigh)
	Mary Astor	("Frisco" Kitty)
	Ian Keith	(Marsden)
	Hugh Herbert	(Charlie)
	Russ Powell	(Tourist, detective)
	Alan Roscoe	(Dave)
	Bert Stanley	(Cook)

Summary:

While docked in San Francisco, Captain Sam McVeigh, the tough-talking, hard-drinking skipper of a small cargo ship, sees a beautiful woman standing on the pier and immediately falls in love with her. Later, the woman and Marsden, the man with whom she is traveling, approach McVeigh and ask him for passage on his boat. Unaware that Marsden is not the minister he claims to be, but a fugitive bank robber, and that the woman is not the refined Mrs. Marsden, but Marsden's moll, "Frisco" Kitty, McVeigh agrees to transport the couple. While sailing to Mexico, a drunken McVeigh invites Kitty to his cabin and tries to force himself on her. To his surprise, Kitty thwarts his desires by telling him that his lechery and drunkenness are beneath his station as a captain and that he should clean up his "mind, body and soul." Upon arriving in Mexico, McVeigh, impressed by Kitty's words, stops drinking and tidies his ship, then sends flowers and a grateful farewell note to Kitty. Worried that the authorities will be suspicious of McVeigh's sudden departure, Marsden orders Kitty to flirt with the captain and stall his leaving. Although reluctant to hurt McVeigh, Kitty continues her kindly impersonation of a reverend's wife, while Marsden sabotages McVeigh's engine to assure his delay. That night, Kitty slips away from a drunken Marsden to keep an on-board dinner date with her lovesick captain. After she leaves McVeigh, his crewmen accuse him of the sabotage and threaten to harm Kitty. McVeigh rushes to warn Kitty at her hotel and is confronted by Marsden, who angrily reveals his and Kitty's true identities. Crushed, McVeigh rails against Kitty and knocks out Marsden just as an undercover police detective bursts into the room to arrest Marsden. While Kitty is being held in the hotel, McVeigh sneaks back to her room and accepts her apology and her declaration of love. After Kitty and McVeigh vow to wait for each other, the detective shoots down an escaping Marsden and grants Kitty her release.

Production Company:	RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company:	RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Director:	Louis Wolheim	(Dir)
	Lynn Shores	(Pictorial dir)
	Charles Kerr	(Asst dir)
	James Anderson	(Asst dir)
Producer:	William Le Baron	(Prod)
	Myles Connelly	(Assoc prod)
Writer:	Hugh Herbert	(Scr)
	Keene Thompson	([Wrt] by)
	Agnes Brand Leahy	([Wrt] by)
Photography:	Nick Musuraca	(Photog)
Film Editor:	George Marsh	(Film ed)
	Ann McKnight	(Film ed)
Set Decoration:	Max Rée	(Scenery)
Costumes:	Max Rée	(Cost)
Sound:	Hugh McDowell Jr.	(Rec)
Special Effects:	Lloyd Knechtel	(Photog eff)
Country:	United States

Copyright Claimant	Copyright Date	Copyright Number	Passed By NBR:
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.	1/4/1931 dd/mm/yyyy	LP2265	Yes

Physical Properties:	b&w;:
	Sd:	RCA Photophone System


Genre:	Drama
	Drama
Sub-Genre:	Sea
	Crime

Subjects (Major):	Fugitives
	Impersonation and imposture
	Molls
	Moral reformation
	Sea captains

Subjects (Minor):	Clergy
	Drunkenness
	False accusations
	Fights
	Hotels
	Lechery
	Mexico
	Police detectives
	Thieves
	Sabotage
	San Francisco (CA)
	Ship crews

Note:	The working title of this film was Sheep's Clothing . Louis Wolheim, who died in Feb 1931, before the film's opening, made his directorial debut in this production. RKO borrowed Wolheim from the Caddo Company. A FD news item noted that scenes for the film were shot at the Santa Catalina Island harbor, and RKO rented six high-speed boats at $500 per hour to patrol the harbor and prevent excessive noise during shooting, according to a FD news item.

Bibliographic Sources:	Date	Page
Film Daily	9 Sep 30	p. 10.
Film Daily	2 Oct 30	p. 6.
Film Daily	5 Apr 31	p. 10.
Motion Picture Herald	1 Nov 30	p. 41.
Variety	27 May 31	p. 66.

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The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.

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