Film Review of The Wreck of the Mary Deare: Thrilling Adaptation by Eric Ambler, Hammond Innes

The Wreck of the Mary Deare was adapted as a popular, respected novel into a thriller film. It was filmed in:

• England (Elstree Studios, London, Regent’s Park, Waterloo Station);
• United States of America (Long Beach, California).

It was realized by:

• Eric Clifford Ambler (June 28, 1909 – October 22, 1998) as screenplay writer;
• Michael Joseph Anderson, Sr. (born January 30, 1920) as director;
• Julian Blaustein (May 30, 1913 – June 20, 1995) as producer;
• George Duning (February 25, 1908 – February 27, 2000) as music director;
• Joseph Ruttenberg (July 4, 1889 – May 1, 1983) as cinematographer;
• Eda Warren (October 17, 1903 – July 15, 1980) as editor.

It was released with:

• MGM as the distributor;
• 105 minutes as the running time.

John Sands (Charlton Heston) boards Mary Deare during wind-ravaged rainstorms. He comes across:

• Airplane engine, cotton, tea cargo manifests;
• Course-plotted map.

First officer Gideon Patch (Gary Cooper) describes Captain Taggart’s death four days previously. John gets Sea Witch salvage boat co-partner Mike Duncan (Ben Wright) to sail on. Gideon unexpectedly grounds Mary Deare on the Minkies after John re-stokes boiler room fires and starts up engines. They leave for St. Malo by:

• Lifeboat;
• Rescue plane.

With Mike, they meet:

• First mate Higgins (Richard Harris);
• Petrie (Alexander Knox), ship owner Gunderson’s (Peter Illing) representative.  

Janet Taggart (Virginia McKenna) reveals her father’s:

• Meeting a Gunderson ship captain from China;
• Replacing a sick officer during Mary Deare’s four-day Rangoon stop.

The action in The Wreck of the Mary Deare centers upon three suspenseful activities:

• Mysteries concerning Gideon’s strange behavior culminating in the revelation of a previous shipwreck and suspension;
• Proceedings involving French salvage company captain (George Dee), hostile crew, insurance company underwriter, inquiry court lawyers (Alexander Archdale, John LeMesurier);
• Vindication resulting from access of stone-filled -- not engine-containing -- boxes and struggles with harpoon-wielding Higgins.

It draws upon first-rate inputs from cast and crew, with particularly effective conjuring of atmosphere and mood through:

• Set decoration by Henry Grace, Hugh Hunt;
• Special effects by A. Arnold Gillespie, Doug Hubbard, Lee LeBlanc.

The film generates high praise from critics and is worth viewing again and again in DVD format.

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Does what happens in Rangoon (Yangon) stay in Rangoon? Does Gideon Patch (Gary Cooper) need to find out about happenings during Mary Deare's four-day stopover for cargo in Rangoon Harbor?
cargo ships in Yangon Harbor; Yangon (Rangoon) River at Yangon Harbor, Myanmar: Colegota, CC BY SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:01-rio-yangon-d03.jpg

After grounding Mary Deare in the Minkies (Les Minquiers), a group of islands and rocks in the English Channel near France's northern coast, Gideon Patch (Gary Cooper) and John Sands (Charlton Heston) journey to nearby St. Malo.:
English Channel at low tide at St. Malo, Bretagne, northwestern coastal France: Nimbusania, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:StMaloBeach.JPG

"The Wreck of the Mary Deare - Original Theatrical Trailer" (2:36)
Uploaded Sep. 27, 2015, by Warner Bros. to YouTube ~ URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4G2sTvByKE

"The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959)" (4:43) ~ Richard Harris (Higgins) espies Gary Cooper (Gideon Patch) and Charleston Heston (John Sands) dive to bottom of "Mary Deare" to investigate crippling hole.
Uploaded March 29, 2013, by Megaman514 to YouTube ~ URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXcuix1fPB0

Innes, Hammond. 1956. The Wreck of the Mary Deare. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.  

Innes, Hammond; and Ambler, Eric. 1959. The Wreck of the Mary Deare. Blaustein Baroda Production Company.  

Warner Brothers. 2006. Gary Cooper -- The Signature Collection: Sergeant York, The Fountainhead, Dallas, Springfield Rifle, The Wreck of the Mary Deare. Warner DVD.