Obeah!

Obeah![2] is a 1935 American horror film directed by F. Herrick Herrick and starring Jean Brooks and Phillips Lord. In the United Kingdom, the film was released under the title The Mystery Ship.[1] It is believed to be a lost film, as no copies of it are known to exist.[3]

Obeah!
Directed byF. Herrick Herrick
Written byRobert Carse[1]
Story byF. Herrick Herrick
Starring
CinematographyHarry W. Smith
Edited byLeonard Weiss
Production
company
Arcturus Pictures
Release date
  • February 1935 (1935-02)
Running time
75 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

A sailor, known as "The Adventurer," searching for a lost American explorer discovers him being held hostage on a remote island in the South Sea. The man is held captive by the island's natives, who have placed him under a voodoo spell known as "obeah." The Adventurer attempts to halt a death ritual but fails, and the explorer dies. The Adventurer is forced to flee the island, taking with him a native woman and the daughter of the dead explorer.

With the help of a map taken from the explorer, the three attempt to locate a chest of gold that has been sunk off the island shore. Meanwhile, the high priest of the island people casts a curse on the three, and a love triangle ensues between those on the ship.[lower-alpha 1]

Cast

Production

The film was produced by the New York City-based production company Arcturus Pictures.[8] Based on a story by director F. Herrick Herrick,[9] the film's script was written by Robert Carse, the film's production began in June 1934[10] and lasted several weeks. The film was shot on location in Kingston, Jamaica.[11]

An additional article published in Film Daily claimed the film's shoot lasted a total of eleven months, shot on a worldwide cruise that stopped in over twenty countries.[6] Later trade reports reported the shoot had only lasted four months.[6] The ship's crew as well as various unknown performers appear in the film.[6] Scenes were filmed at Papine and Port Royal, alongside interior shots in downtown Kingston bars.[12]

See also

Notes
  1. This plot summary is based entirely on a re-published article provided by the American Film Institute, extracted from The Film Daily (February 1935)[4]

References
  1. Polack 2017, p. 49.
  2. "Obeah! (1935)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on July 30, 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  3. Thomas, Hilda (7 April 2015). "Of Myth and Magic: Exploring Superstitions and Traditional Beliefs from Latin America and the Caribbean". Nearshore Americas. Archived from the original on 20 December 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  4. "Obeah!". The Film Daily: 11. 13 February 1935.
  5. "Obeah". American Film Institute. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  6. Rhodes, Gary D. (2001). White Zombie: Anatomy of a Horror Film. McFarland. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-786-42762-8.
  7. Polack 2017, p. 48.
  8. Polack 2017, p. 46.
  9. Hanson, Patricia King, ed. (1971). The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States. Vol. 1. University of California Press. p. 329. ISBN 978-0-520-07908-3.
  10. Polack 2017, p. 47.
  11. Polack 2017, pp. 48–9.
  12. Polack, Peter. Jamaica, the Land of Film, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017, p. 46–48.

Works cited
  • Polack, Peter (2017). Jamaica, the Land of Film. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-443-87375-8.
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