Or to be precise, this is actually the second film from the small UK studio that twenty years later was to revive the horror genre. Hammer had a policy of importing American stars in their early years, and this movie is no exception: Bela Lugosi himself plays the leading role of Anton Lorenz, an interesting irony in that Hammer was to give us Lugosi's equally iconic replacement for Dracula, Christopher Lee.
Lugosi gives a fine, shaded performance as a broken down salty sea dog who still maintains a fearless dignity. The movie itself is a speculation on what might have happened to the legendary Mary Celeste, which was found drifting in 1872 with no one on board - and it's a pretty good one, though it suffers from some choppy story editing.
The version I've seen is the American version - The Phantom Ship, which I believe is shorter, and that may account for the rather large number of off-screen disappearances and deaths. Somebody constantly appears to be discovering a body, or that someone has vanished, most jarringly when the Captain and his bride simply disappear. Lugosi's account of what happened to them is brief and perfunctory, and yet we have been encouraged to invest time in these characters.
Saying that the movie is pretty good and feels authentic, with plenty of opportunities for Lugosi to show off his versatility, something he was largely denied in Hollywood. His fans will find much to enjoy.
Lugosi gives a fine, shaded performance as a broken down salty sea dog who still maintains a fearless dignity. The movie itself is a speculation on what might have happened to the legendary Mary Celeste, which was found drifting in 1872 with no one on board - and it's a pretty good one, though it suffers from some choppy story editing.
The version I've seen is the American version - The Phantom Ship, which I believe is shorter, and that may account for the rather large number of off-screen disappearances and deaths. Somebody constantly appears to be discovering a body, or that someone has vanished, most jarringly when the Captain and his bride simply disappear. Lugosi's account of what happened to them is brief and perfunctory, and yet we have been encouraged to invest time in these characters.
Saying that the movie is pretty good and feels authentic, with plenty of opportunities for Lugosi to show off his versatility, something he was largely denied in Hollywood. His fans will find much to enjoy.