 Very shortly after its theatrical release in December of 1943,  producer Val Lewton (qv) was sued for plagiarism by  Samuel R. Golding (qv) and Norbert Faulkner (qv), who claimed  that Lewton based his script on a play which they had written and  submitted to Lewtons office at the time "The Ghost Ship" was being  developed. Although Lewton had the opportunity to settle out of  court, he chose to have the case tried. Despite Lewtons claims that  their manuscript was returned unread, the court ruled against Lewton  and RKO (a decision upheld at appeal), and "The Ghost Ship" was  withdrawn from circulation. It remained unavailable for viewing for  the next 50 years.