Margherita

Margherita is a Yonderian 1965 comedy film in colour starring, among others, Jean-Yves Forvert, Edith le Fêvre, Adam le Bonc and Michael Geigh. The film was shot over a six week period in the Vandarch, mainland Yonderre and the Kestrel Isles and follows the misadventures of the crew of Margherita, sailing in the waters around the ficticious county of Elbonia. Margherita, loaded to the brim with "coal, beer, ham and other absolute necessities", has to race against the Geogius, a Derian ship trying to fulfil the same delivery contract. Much hillarity ensues as Margherita continually runs into trouble that has to be resolved through the ingenuity of her crew.

The film Margherita was made by Primo Kino during the early peak of their popularity in the 1960s and follows much of the known Primo Kino formula from similar films such as How I (almost) started the Second Great War and Dates for Monarchs.

Plot
Margherita is a hopelesly outdated freighter sailing between various Levantine harbours and the ficticious countries Taistia and Elbonia. The crew of Margherita is an odd bunch, having a navigator with no sense of direction, a dyslexic telegrapher and a cook who is allergic to most basic ingredients. After much debate as to just what the meaning of the garbled messaged the dyslexic telegrapher had received, the crew of Margherita realized that the ficticious country of Elbonia was in desperate need of basic necessities due to an on-going famine. Eying up the posibility of making a major profit, the ship's captain (played by Adam le Bonc) orders the Margherita to make haste to Elbonia.

The film then cuts to the Georgius, a Derian ship that has intercepted the same message. A montage follows that shows Margherita loading up with beer, ham, coal and other products deemed by the captain as absolutely necessary, while the Georgius loads up mainly with wheat, oats and other grains. Margherita leaves harbour a full three days ahead of Georgius but is soon intercepted by the Derian vessel due to the incompetent navigation of the navigator of Margherita as well as the ship's failing engines. Halting to refuel on an unnamed island enroute to Elbonia, the crew of the Margherita manages to drink a stranded Yonderian ship's engineer, Richard (played by Jean-Yves Forvert), unconscious afterwhich they carry him onto the ship.

When Richard awakes hungover the next morning he protests having been kidnapped but ceases his complaints when the captain offers him a cut of the profits for sailing to Elbonia. A stowaway is discovered however, Vicky (played by Edith le Fêvre) who had snuck onto the ship during the night. The crew debates whether or not to make her walk the plank, citing ancient seamen's lore that having women aboard ships was bad luck. Richard intervenes, saying that he will not fix the ship's engines if Vicky is thrown overboard. With the Derian freighter Georgius hot on their heels, Margheritas crew begrudingly allows her to stay aboard, provided she stays within the confines of the engine room.

A chase scene follows in which Derian freighter Georgius is gaining on Margherita, the latter of which is suffering from constant engine failures. Kidnapped engineer Richard concludes that, with the engines of Margherita being as outdated as they are, the only way to repair them is to jury-rig an older model of toilet pump onto the system. While Margherita has no such pump, Georgius does. Margherita cuts Georgius off just shy of an Elbonian port, blocking their way. Stowaway Vicky beings to flirtouisly dance atop the deck of Margherita, absolutely distracting the crew of the Georgius as well as her captain (played by Michael Geigh) as Richard and two other crewmates paddle their way between the two vessels in an overturned plastic parasol, eventually making their way to the Georgius  and stealing a toilet pump. Vicky is about to conclude her dance number as the raid crew returns to the Margherita.

Even as they install the toilet pump into the engines of the Margherita, her crew notices they are not going to be able to outpace the much more modern Georgius. However, the captain notes that a nuclear option exists, sailing through a strait thought too shallow to allow freighters to pass through. With most of the crew doubting the viability of the plan, the captain orders the ship throught the strait. Scraping along the bottom of the strait most of the way, Margherita arrives in harbour five minutes before the Georgius and is paid handsomely for their trouble. The film then cuts to a large Elbonian bar in which the crew of the Margherita are celebrating their succesful travels. The films ends with Richard (played by Jean-Yves Forvert) and Vicky (played by Edith le Fêvre) dancing together, the Margheritas captain offering a toast to their future.