BOTANY BAY (1953)

Botany Bay tells the story of the birth of Australia as a nation in the late 18th century—drawing its founding settlers from the dreary prisons of England. Condemned to live out the rest of their existence in a foreign land, these convicted criminals are given a chance for reformation on new soil. Among them are Hugh Tallant (screen great Alan Ladd, Whispering Smith), a rebellious medical student unjustly accused of highway robbery, and Sally Munroe (a wonderful Patricia Medina, Sangaree), a pretty young actress sentenced in a dispute over the ownership of a necklace. In order to reach their new life in the British penal colony of Botany Bay, however, they have to survive the grueling voyage of the prison ship Charlotte—and the treachery of its sadistic overlord, Captain Gilbert (a fiery James Mason, The Man Between). When the ship finally lands at its destination, the film comes to a crashing climax that makes it one of the most exciting sea adventures ever filmed! Franz Waxman’s (Red Mountain) score and John F. Seitz’s (Captain Carey, U.S.A.) Technicolor cinematography heighten the drama in this sweeping swashbuckler from screenwriter Jonathan Latimer (Night Has a Thousand Eyes) and director John Farrow (Submarine Command).