Passage home

The steamer, “Bulinga” is the setting of this tense journey which takes the viewer on a passage from South America to England. The steamer is laden with pedigree bulls and Captain Lucky Ryland (Peter Finch) is pushing his crew to complete the trip in record breaking time. Adding to Lucky’s lack of cohesion with his crew members is the presence of Ruth (Diane Cilento), a passenger they have received orders to carry. Lucky raises the wrath of the first mate when he saves Ruth from being attacked by Lucky during one of his drunken binges. Lucky becomes isolated from the rest of the crew and shirks away from his responsibilities, until a violent storm hits the boat and they must put aside their differences to work as a team and survive. Cast also includes Anthony Steel, Cyril Cusack, Geoffrey Keen and Hugh Griffith. Based on a novel by Richard Armstrong.