Doomed to Die

Yes, it's the standard 1940's mystery potboiler with borrowed clips from other 'Wong' films, and it's a bit tough following just who did what to who when...but the opening sequences depicting the burned ship 'Wentworth Castle' are actually newsreel sequences of the burned 'Morro Castle', which caught fire on September 9, 1934. She was truly a ship of mystery for her last cruise -- her captain died of a heart attack in his bathtub aboard ship the previous evening. Early the next morning, a fire spread quickly out of control as the first mate tried to move the ship to ease the effects of the wind -- yet no orders were given to send an SOS. The radio operator sent out one on his own initiative, just a few minutes before the ship lost power. She drifted and beached herself at Asbury Park NJ, where the gutted hulk came to rest only a few feet from the famed Boardwalk, making a gruesome tourist attraction. Heavy rumors of cowardice were laid on the crew -- of the first 98 people in lifeboats, 92 of them were crew members. 137 passengers and crew died in the tragedy.