For film buffs, The Wreck of the Mary Deare is the film that Alfred Hitchcock didn't make. It was the project, ultimately abandoned by the famed thriller director and screenwriter Ernest Lehman, that spawned the mich celebrated North By Northwest. Yet the cinematic adaptation of Hammond Innes' best-seller did get made, by a noted director and with two of cinema's most iconic leading men. So what are we to make of the film that did get made?
It certainly has all the makings of a fine film, and it's easy to see why MGM thought of Hitchcock to make it. Innes' novel had been a hit for reading audiences in its original medium, a nautical thriller involving a near-ghost ship, a would-be salvager, and the mystery at the heart of the ship's apparent abandonment mid-ocean. Throw in a legal thriller in the middle between sections at sea, revealing the characters on the stricken vessel in greater detail, and you had a compelling mix. Could it be translated to the screen, though?
Yes and no. The opening and closing thirds of the film, set around the titular freighter, are, without question, it's highpoints. The former dealing with the discovery of the ship by a would-be salvager (Charlton Heston) who not only finds the first officer turned captain (Gary Cooper) onboard but also gets into a race to save the ship, is arguably the film at its best. It's here that director Michael Anderson (not far off his Oscar nomination for Around the World in 80 Days) and screenwriter Eric Ambler (a thriller writer himself) creates a compelling tale of men at sea, struggling against the elements and each other. It promises great things for the rest of the film that follows.
Unfortunately, it isn't quite able to deliver on that promise. The middle third of the film, dealing with a court of inquiry, should solidify the tension and mystery of the piece. Instead, and it isn't clear where the blame lies for this, the entire film loses steam as it goes from nautical thriller to courtroom potboiler. Even with the presence of Cooper and Heston, not to mention the rising star of Richard Harris and character actors such as Alexander Knox, the film flounders under the weight of trying to keep the pace and tension up. The final third, which sees a return to the Mary Deare, thankfully picks things back up as the truth behind the disaster is revealed, with potentially fatal consequences. The result is watchable if unevenly paced.
Elsewhere, the film has plenty to recommend it for featuring. Both Cooper and Heston are in solid form, with Cooper's tired looks suiting his put-upon officer with a questionable past. Heston, as the young salvager thrust into the heart of the mystery, makes a part that feels more like a plot device at times believable. The supporting cast is solid, if not always remarkable, from Richard Harris as Cooper's younger officer and nemesis to Alexander Knox as a representative of the ship's owners and Virginia McKenna as the daughter of the Mary Deare's captain. Anderson, as director, brings together the better parts of the film with aplomb, including some fine model work representing the ship and a score from George Duning. While they can't overcome the problems with the middle of the film, when the film works, it works.
For all of its faults, and there were plenty, The Wreck of the Mary Deare remains a fine thriller. It is ultimately 2/3 of a fine film, sandwiched between a less than stellar middle third. Even so, between the cast and the production as a whole, the film stands up well enough. It just isn't the classic that it perhaps ought to have been, but if nautical thrillers are something you wish, you could a lot worse than give this a watch.
It certainly has all the makings of a fine film, and it's easy to see why MGM thought of Hitchcock to make it. Innes' novel had been a hit for reading audiences in its original medium, a nautical thriller involving a near-ghost ship, a would-be salvager, and the mystery at the heart of the ship's apparent abandonment mid-ocean. Throw in a legal thriller in the middle between sections at sea, revealing the characters on the stricken vessel in greater detail, and you had a compelling mix. Could it be translated to the screen, though?
Yes and no. The opening and closing thirds of the film, set around the titular freighter, are, without question, it's highpoints. The former dealing with the discovery of the ship by a would-be salvager (Charlton Heston) who not only finds the first officer turned captain (Gary Cooper) onboard but also gets into a race to save the ship, is arguably the film at its best. It's here that director Michael Anderson (not far off his Oscar nomination for Around the World in 80 Days) and screenwriter Eric Ambler (a thriller writer himself) creates a compelling tale of men at sea, struggling against the elements and each other. It promises great things for the rest of the film that follows.
Unfortunately, it isn't quite able to deliver on that promise. The middle third of the film, dealing with a court of inquiry, should solidify the tension and mystery of the piece. Instead, and it isn't clear where the blame lies for this, the entire film loses steam as it goes from nautical thriller to courtroom potboiler. Even with the presence of Cooper and Heston, not to mention the rising star of Richard Harris and character actors such as Alexander Knox, the film flounders under the weight of trying to keep the pace and tension up. The final third, which sees a return to the Mary Deare, thankfully picks things back up as the truth behind the disaster is revealed, with potentially fatal consequences. The result is watchable if unevenly paced.
Elsewhere, the film has plenty to recommend it for featuring. Both Cooper and Heston are in solid form, with Cooper's tired looks suiting his put-upon officer with a questionable past. Heston, as the young salvager thrust into the heart of the mystery, makes a part that feels more like a plot device at times believable. The supporting cast is solid, if not always remarkable, from Richard Harris as Cooper's younger officer and nemesis to Alexander Knox as a representative of the ship's owners and Virginia McKenna as the daughter of the Mary Deare's captain. Anderson, as director, brings together the better parts of the film with aplomb, including some fine model work representing the ship and a score from George Duning. While they can't overcome the problems with the middle of the film, when the film works, it works.
For all of its faults, and there were plenty, The Wreck of the Mary Deare remains a fine thriller. It is ultimately 2/3 of a fine film, sandwiched between a less than stellar middle third. Even so, between the cast and the production as a whole, the film stands up well enough. It just isn't the classic that it perhaps ought to have been, but if nautical thrillers are something you wish, you could a lot worse than give this a watch.