The Mystery of the Marie Celeste (1935)

Director:

Denison Clift

Writers:

Denison Clift (story)
Charles Larkworthy (scenario)

Release Date:

15 October 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

The Master of Mystery in a Masterpiece of Weird Thrills!

Plot:

During a horrific storm at sea, the crew realizes that there is a murderer among them who is killing them off one by one. |

Plot Keywords:

Ship | Hurricane | Public Domain | Poker | Shark

Cast

Bela Lugosi	...	Anton Lorenzen
Shirley Grey	...	Sarah Briggs
Arthur Margetson	...	Capt. Benjamin Briggs
Edmund Willard	...	Toby Bilson
Dennis Hoey	...	Tom Goodschard
George Mozart	...	Tommy Duggan
Johnnie Schofield	...	Peter Tooley
Gunner Moir	...	Ponta Katz
Ben Welden	...	'Sailor' Hoffman
Clifford McLaglen	...	Capt. Jim Morehead
Bruce Gordon	...	Olly Deveau
Gibson Gowland	...	Andy Gilling
Terence de Marney	...	Charlie Kaye
Edgar Pierce	...	Arian Harbens (as J. Edgar Pierce)
Herbert Cameron	...	Volkerk Grot

Also Known As:

Phantom Ship
The Mystery of the Mary Celeste

Runtime:

80 min | USA:62 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #01357)

Filming Locations:

Falmouth, Cornwall, England, UK

Company:

Hammer Film Productions

Movie Connections:

Featured in Lugosi: The Forgotten King (1985) (TV)

Decent old movie about the greatest maritime mystery of all times

"The Mystery of the Mary Celeste" is a much cleaner-sounding and more suitable title for a dramatic story that is based on the true events of what is widely considered as the greatest maritime mystery of all times. The alternate title, "Phantom Ship" merely just cashes in on the successful horror movie reputation of its lead player Bela Lugosi and makes this film sound like a bona fide ghost story, which it definitely ain't. The journey of the Mary Celeste is pretty much doomed from the beginning, at least according to its superstitious crew members, because the newlywed captain brings his wife on board. The women aboard omen turns out to be true when the ship successively encounters devastating thunderstorms and inexplicably sinister accidents with deadly casualties among the crew members. Could the Mary Celeste really be cursed or is there simply a whole lot of foul play involved, like for example sabotage by the man whose marriage proposal was recently rejected by the captain's lovely wife? "The Mystery of the Mary Celeste" is a really ancient film – nearly 75 years old now – and that is noticeable in literally every tiniest detail. Probably this film already looked dated in the 40's already, what with its very rudimentary decors and hideously abrupt editing. For fans of that typically 30's style, the film is definitely worth checking out, as it bathes in ominous atmosphere and cheap awkwardness. The psychedelic ending is definitely far ahead of its time and I can image it must have upset a lot of tender souls back when the film played in theaters. Of course, the writers had to come up with some sort of sudden and abrupt twist in order to remain faithful to the Mary Celeste mystery and leave the several possible theories wide open. The immense ship was found floating around unmanned in the Atlantic Ocean in 1872. There wasn't any material damage or signs of struggle, but none of the crew members was ever seen or heard from ever again. The ideal scary cinema concept, in other words.