katherine anne porter's "ship of fools"

i watched the movie "ship of fools" last night, based on katherine anne porter's one published novel.  i had read the novel as an  undergraduate and seen the movie, i feel fairly sure; but i did not remember much of either experience.   it was a good black and white film from the mid-sixties, directed by stanley kubrick, i think,  who also directed "clockwork orange" and "2001: a space odyssey", if i am not mistaken.  it was fairly stark, and something of a grotesque.  the cast included oscar werner, a young  george segal, vivian leigh, simone signoret, and lee marvin.  it was a little torturous but entertaining.  set on a  cruise ship sailing from mexico to europe in the early 1930's, the impending nazi theme is dominant with the anti-jewish sentiment beginning to be in full evidence.  oh yes, jose greco was featured as the head of a remarkable flamenco troup that blended in with the rest of the variously disordered passengers.  george segal played an aspiring artist involved in an unsatisfactory romantic relationship.  oskar werner had the lead role as the ship's doctor who becomes involved with simone signoret as an aristocratic countess under house arrest for assisting in an insurrection among a  group of migrant spanish sugar plantation workers.  the theme of social unrest is prominent, and to some extent from a marxist point of view.  in steerage are several hundred workers being transported back to europe after a failed sugar harvest due to price collapse.  the elegant upper class passengers have little contact with the peasants in steerage.  it made me think of eugene o'neil's "the hairy ape", another marxist work.  the cynical approach to the social situation is largely unrelieved.  there is a religious sidelight in one of the characters, a christian fanatic; but it is not presented to be taken seriously.   in the end the movie is a dark criticism of the economic injustices and distorted personalities in evidence on a number of levels.  this atmosphere is largely unrelieved.  i watched the movie on my laptop computer, ordering it on-line from youtube.  it was my first time to order a movie like this, spending about $3.00.  the process was simple and painless.  i will be watching more movies like this from time to time.  it was a good experience.  addendum: the movie caused me to think of the paintings of heironymous bosch, the renaissance flemish artist so well represented in spanish collections.  his nightmare satire is relevant.  i may have seen bosch' own "ship of fools" in europe, perhaps at the prado, but i am not sure.  bosch' first name suggests a play on words to me of "the higher animus", a philosophical  concept that might provide some resolution to the dark circumstances of this comedy..