The Mystery of the Mary Celeste

Denison Clift's "The Mystery Of The Mary Celeste" aka. "Phantom Ship" of 1935 is a great movie starring Bela Lugosi in a great though atypical role. Many people seem to dislike this movie and I don't really see why. Maybe some people have mixed feelings about "Phantom Ship" because Lugosi's character is not the ingenious super-villain he often played, but an unshaven and scruffy sailor. In my opinion, however, Lugosi's role not being typical doesn't downgrade his excellent performance, and "The Mystery Of The Mary Celeste" is a highly atmospheric Horror Mystery and, by the way, one of the first movies produced by the legendary Hammer Film Productions.

The fictional story, which was inspired by the tragic case of the real-life ghost-ship 'Mary Celeste', is of course not historically accurate. Some characters have the names of real-life members of the "Mary Celeste" crew, but the rest of the story is pure fiction. I don't see this as negative either, however. First of all, movies don't always have to be historically accurate to be good. Second, this movie doesn't claim historical accuracy, the beginning clearly says that the story was only inspired by the tragedy of the Mary Celeste.

The great Bela Lugosi is, once again, brilliant in his role, and some of the other cast members, such as Edmund Willard or the heavily tattooed Gunner Moir also deliver great performances."The Mystery Of The Mary Celeste" is impressively filmed, and the dark, sometimes haunting atmosphere and menacing character of the sea are excellently brought to screen. The film's musical score is also great, occasional songs sung by characters contribute to the movie's atmosphere, and the background score in some other scenes contributes to the suspense.

"The Mystery Of The Mary Celeste" is a highly atmospheric, excellently shot and vastly underrated movie. Lugosi fans can't afford to miss this. Highly Recommended! 8/10

Hammer Film Productions is famous for the production of Gothic horror during the 60s and 70s; however, way before becoming the legendary horror house, the company had a brief but brilliant encounter with the genre. The film was an ambitious entry in the horror/mystery genre starring horror icon Bela Lugosi and based on the famous case of the abandoned ship, the "Marie Celeste".

"The Mystery of the Marie Celeste" (or as it is known in the U.S., "The Phantom Ship") presents a fictional theory on the mysterious disappearance of the entire crew (complete with the captain's family) of the tragically famous ship. The plot deals with a mysterious murderer who is killing the crew one by one. Arthur Margetson is Captain Benjamin Briggs, who is taking his bride Sarah (Shirley Grey) in his tragic last trip. The crew includes Bela Lugosi and Edmund Willard among others, all of them possible victims, or killers.

The film is very well done for a low budget, and it is very well written, with very interesting characters and a perfectly crafted mystery. Sadly, several minutes of film were cut for the American release and it's the only version that has survived. The original British version (with a runtime of approximately 80 minutes) is apparently lost. The movie still works with the cuts, but one is left to wonder how deep the development of the characters was in the original.

Director Denison Clift had a small career as a director (he was primarily a writer), but he manages to create great atmospheres and builds up the suspense and the mystery with good care. Clift focuses more on the story than in the visual composition and lets the actors do the trick, they are without a doubt the film's highlight. The superb performances of the cast give life to the story and make the experience even more enjoyable.

Arthur Margetson is very good as the stubborn and stoic Capt. Briggs, but Shirley Grey is a bit weak as the romantic interest (contrary to the real story, in the film the couple has no children). Edmund Willard and Bela Lugosi steal the show, the first one as the violent Tobey Bilson, and Lugosi as the mysterious Anton Lorenzen. The two of them give outstanding performances and are the soul of the movie. While Bela Lugosi will always be remembered as Dracula, is in this movie where he can display his dramatic talent in a very demanding role as the emotional Lorenzen.

The film feels claustrophobic at times being that the only location is the ship, but this adds to the feeling of paranoia and suspense that grows among the crew. The lack of flamboyant visual imagery may turn off horror fans not used to the slow pace of older films but the films moves at a perfect rhythm. Another small flaw is that the rest of the cast is at times either unconvincing or over-the-top; however, Lugosi, Willard and Margetson make up for this.

While "The Mystery of the Marie Celeste" is not the classic film that "Dracula" or "White Zombie" are, it is a fine film that successfully mixes horror and mystery and displays the great talent Lugosi had, a talent that was sadly forgotten and went underused during most of his career. This film is an often forgotten shiny spot in the stories of both Lugosi and Hammer Productions, and therefore a must-see for anyone interested in Lugosi's life or in Hammer's history, as it is probably the finest performance of an iconic figure. 8/10

This fictional story is based on true event -- the finding of a ship with no one on it.....and gives a plausible "explanation" of what MIGHT have happened.

This film is notable for Lugosi's dramatic performance; it's one of the (very) few films that he was able to show his dramatic (as opposed to horror) side.

This is a VERY difficult film to find.....but worth watching for Lugosi's performance alone!

This movie has recently been released as a cult classic for $1. Yes, ONE dollar. Didn't come in a standard DVD case, but a thick card-stock 'envelope'. It's packaged as 'Phantom Ship'. I couldn't pass that up and quickly added it to my collection...

The movie was of surprisingly good quality. Usually movies from this era (mid 30's) suffer from static and there is difficulty understanding the dialog at times because of the bad sound quality. Visually, the sets were extremely realistic and detailed. You could tell when the occasional stock footage was used, but it fit well with the movie.

The story is based on an possible answer to the mystery of the Mary Celeste. The Mary Celeste was a sailing ship loaded with 1,700 barrels of alcohol that left New York on November 7, 1872 bound for Genoa, Italy. On board were the captain, his wife, their young daughter, and a crew of eight. The ship was later found drifting at sea - no one on board.

The movie seems to deviate from the story in that the captain is single and has his fiancée with him. There is no daughter. One by one, people start to disappear as the crew realizes there is a murderer aboard the ship. The writer tried to build up a cast suspects.

Was it the crew member sent by the captain of another ship who had also proposed to the captains fiancée? When he sent that crew member on board, he told him to do whatever he needed to do...and maybe he could be a second mate someday.

Was it the sadistic second mate on the Mary Celeste? He seemed to love beating and torturing people.

Maybe it was one of the shanghaied (kidnapped) members of the crew. One of which threatened to kill the second mate and made it clear he was going to get even.

Maybe Bela Lugosi's character. A man who had been shanghaied years before on the Mary Celeste and wanted revenge for the brutality he had suffered.

One by one, people were killed. Each time the remaining crew would grow more paranoid and suspicious. I must confess that I was never quite sure who exactly was guilty until the very end. There were just too many possibilities. This made the movie unpredictable and enjoyable. The acting was superb throughout. The interaction between crew members and the atmosphere were extremely well done.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a scary mystery, any Bela Lugosi fan, or anyone who enjoys movies from the 30's.

Watching this film one wonders if the scene of the discovery of the Mary Celeste was actually supposed to come at the beginning rather than at the end, since as a whole it would have worked far better in flashback.

Film historians often regard old movies with the benefit of hindsight; and this little curiosity has always caught the eye of researchers since it represents the intersection of the careers of Bela Lugosi and Hammer Films (Gibson Gowland even plays a character called 'Gilling'). Watching the thing is another matter however, since for most of it's length - apart a few outdoor scenes shot in Folkestone - it consists almost entirely of talk, obviously shot in a studio.

Shirley Grey wears a sleek thirties bob totally wrong for film set in 1872. Lugosi spends the entire film looking and sounding as if he's just woken up; but when it eventually comes his final scene is a beaut!