Customer Reviews

Phantom Ship

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Like most movies about real life events, this one is also worthless as history. The film tells the more sensational version of events theorized to have occurred aboard the famous sailing vessel, Mary Celeste, found in the middle of the Atlantic under full sail with no one aboard.

Captain Briggs gathers a crew for the trip to England, but not before stealing his best friend's girl and marrying her. With a crew and his new wife aboard, the ship departs New York. Once out at sea, the cruelty of a seaman's life becomes obvious to the new bride, who quickly chooses to stay below deck most of the time. About half-way through the movie, the crew begins getting bumped off one by one, until the mystery of the Mary Celeste becomes legend.

The original British film ran about 80 minutes, some of which was taken up with a courtroom inquiry into the mystery. Those parts are missing from this, the American version, and the footage is assumed to be lost. It was felt that American audiences in 1935 would either not understand or care about the inquiry angle, so these scenes were excised. Clocking in at 62 minutes, "Phantom Ship" seems somewhat strangely tedious despite the cuts. The dialogue and acting are remarkable only in their lifelessness and lack of believability.

However, the movie is still worth a looksee by Lugosi fans. Lugosi offers us a dramatic performance rather than his usual horror genre type of character. He does an admirable job playing the broken shell of a man who lusts for revenge. His performance (especially towards the end of the film), really sells his act.

Edmund Willard plays Toby Bilson, first mate of the ship. He comes off very well as the menacing bully of the deck, seemingly intent on crushing any element of joy the crew may have in their drab lives of toil. Of all the cast, he and Lugosi are just about the only ones that stand out.

Doubling for the Mary Celeste is a British sailing ship used in World War I to hunt down German subs. Shooting parts of the film aboard an actual sailing ship lends some documentary-style assistance to this otherwise dry film.

The transfer is pretty good, and probably the best that could have been made given the age of the film. The transfer reportedly came straight from the original nitrate film elements of the American version.

In 1872, the Marie Celeste sailed its way (at full sail) into history when its crew vanished at sea without a trace. The Phantom Ship is a speculative motion picture offering up one solution to the mystery. Filmed in Britain in 1935 (with the original title The Mystery of the Mary Celeste), this movie eased its transition to America (in a slightly condensed form, foregoing the final scenes dealing with early inquiries into the mystery) by including one Bela Lugosi on its cast list. I have to say that Lugosi delivers a remarkable performance in the role of Anton Lorenzen, a down and out sailor with a mysterious yet obviously painful connection to the Mary Celeste. Lorenzen was shanghaied onto a ship in his youth, and the unwanted sea experience he suffered has cost him an arm, turned his hair white, and aged him prematurely. A broken man, penniless, he agrees to join a rag-tag ship's crew being thrown together at the last minute for the Mary Celeste. The ship's captain, Benjamin Briggs brings his newlywed wife on board for the voyage, his love for her having just made his best friend a bitter enemy. At first, the voyage goes smoothly; the sailors fight, sing songs, work, and complain like any normal crew. Then someone tries to attack the captain and is killed; another man dies in the midst of a hurricane; one man is killed after attacking Briggs' young wife. One by one, the entire crew is either killed or disappears.

Lugosi really got to show a great deal of dramatic depth in this movie, something that was often denied him in his American films. He really looks the part of an old, broken man despite this movie being made only four years after he brought Dracula to life. Two scenes stand out from the rest. In the first one, Lugosi betrays a wealth of deep, conflicting emotions in reaction to what he has just done; no one can watch this and come away saying Lugosi was not a seriously talented dramatic actor. The second incredible scene has Lugosi soundlessly carrying the movie by himself for several emotional minutes, relying on intensely communicative facial expressions and body language to keep the viewer enthralled.

The Phantom Ship is blessed with great acting, and it makes for a captivating, albeit rather short, movie experience. The historic plot, one which most viewers may already be somewhat familiar with, serves to pull the viewer even further in to what would be a mesmerizing film in and of itself. I would call this a very special prize for Lugosi fans. This is not exactly horror as I define it, yet Lugosi easily outshines every other cast member, supplying the heart and soul that makes this movie so memorable. This is a dramatic performance that all Lugosi fans will definitely want to add to their collections.

THE PHANTOM SHIP (the Mary Celeste) sets sail with a full crew, including the captain, first mate, the captain's new bride, and a motley bunch of sea dogs. Along for the trip is Anton (Bela Lugosi), a one-armed man with a terrible connection to both the ship and her legend. Anton is an ancestor of modern day serial killers. He's bitter, crazy, and extremely dangerous. Bela pulls off the role to perfection, making Anton a bubbling volcano, erupting only when the time is right. He is the master killer, exacting his revenge with stealth and patience. The true horror of this movie is in Bela's portrayal of a man who knows he can take his time with his captive prey. He also shows a great deal of character depth, tossed about by the demons that plague his mind. The rest of the characters are just victims awaiting their doom. Watch Lugosi work his dark magic! I recommend watching it twice in a row. First to see the film, then to watch Lugosi himself. Without him, this would be a 2-3 star movie at best...

Although they are renowned today for the series of horror films made between 1954 and 1976, Hammer Films actually got their start back in the 1930s. They only made a few films before going on hiatus until after World War II when they reemerged with a series of low budget film noirs (see my earlier reviews) before embarking on the horror films that would make them world famous. The most successful of these 1930s films was the 1935 MYSTERY OF THE MARY CELESTE which would be released here a year later as THE PHANTOM SHIP (beginning a trend which would last until the 1970s of Hammer Film titles being changed in the U.S.) and shorn of 18 minutes. The missing footage deals with courtroom scenes which open and close the picture. The film is of primary interest today as an early Hammer offering and for the casting of Bela Lugosi in an important role.

Lugosi had come to England following in the wake of Boris Karloff who had come over in 1933 to make THE GHOUL, but by 1935 an outright ban on horror films in Britain had been enacted thanks to the Lugosi/Karloff vehicle THE RAVEN and so Lugosi winds up with a role that really shows his capabilities as an actor not just a screen presence. The film is based on one of the all time great maritime mysteries concerning the ship MARY CELESTE which left New York in 1872 and was found sometime later completely derelict. A lifeboat and a few items were missing but almost everything else was where it should have been including provisions and the crew's belongings. What happened? No one really knows or will know but that didn't stop people from speculating. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a story about it and this movie came up with its own scenario.

Overall the film is good but not great and it's a real curio. While the principal photography (shot on a real ship) and the lighting are very effective, the editing is perfunctory, the script is rather stilted and some of the performances are rather weak especially Shirley Grey although she sings a good sea shanty (if that was her). In fact the musical sequences are a highlight of the film. The scenes in the waterfront bar in the beginning look as if they came straight out of THE THREEPENNY OPERA. But the movie belongs to Lugosi as a broken down sailor who exhibits a surprising depth of emotion concerning his plight and the fate of others. If you're a fan of his, then you need to have this as a testament to what he could do.. If you purchase THE PHANTOM SHIP, make sure you get the Image version. Others are from poor quality prints which are only a waste of money.

I have looked everywhere for this lost "gem" and am happy to find it here and in such good shape. I saw this one on a rainy Saturday at the age of 10 and was blown away by the story and by Bela's performance. This may be one of the best roles he ever did.
In 1872 the ship Marie Celeste was found floating under full sail with no crew and no reason for their disappearance. This movie offers one possible solution. As the movie opens the captain of the ship is trying to get a crew together, which is hard because the ship is thought to be jinxed. After he shanghais a crew which includes Bela as a man who sailed on her before and lost his arm and most of his mind, the captain sets sail with his wife and child in tow. The sailors don't like this as "women and ships are bad luck" and sure enough things start to go wrong.
This isn't really a horror movie as it is a suspense movie so don't expect monsters here except for the human kind. If you love Lugosi or you love great suspense movies then this one will fit the bill.

The Image version is really the only one worthwhile watching with a good American print and picture quality. It's just extremely distressing that there apparantly is no complete British print still around. I resent distributors editing British films because they think they have to Americanize them.

Lugosi makes this film worth it for me. His performance as the religious zealot, Anton Lorenzen is a touching, disturbing effort. He endears himself to you, you love him in a sense. Even when his shipmates are being murdered and suspicions are being aroused, you can't help but enjoy his company with each appearance he makes on screen.
The whole cast is dedicated and enjoyable. Everyone gives it their all, and you can see that. The story moves at a steady pace and the dialogue keeps you interested. Even without the intro and concluding footage, the story is fascinating and beautiful. It draws you in with every body that turns up, and keeps you on edge to the very end.
A fscinating, brilliant effort. And certainly worth watching if you are at all intersting in thrillers or the great Lugosi.

This film is badly hurt by a script that has minimal drama or momentum. Not that things don't happen, but they are played out in dry and implausible ways. From the opening scene of Captain Briggs asking Sarah to marry him and his rivalry spelled out in terms of pure exposition to the way nothing manages to be suspenseful, this is a very poorly done film. That's not to say it isn't worth seeing. The acting is generally strong from everyone, particularly given what they have to work with. Everyone now is watching it for Lugosi, who is a revelation--he is nearly unrecognizable and even tries to speak differently than usual, which is quite a task for him, not entirely successful in its accomplishment. Clift's direction makes it almost more of a surprise that Lugosi is the killer, since every aspect of the performance suggests that he has been given the rare (for him) opportunity to play a good guy--it must be intentional the way his face moves in the prayer scene. Edmund Willard is a one-note bad guy while Arthur Margetson chews the scenery with an expressive voice.

The excellent art direction of J. Elder Wills is ill-utilized, and the film would surely look better if only stills from it survived. The enormous wheel of the opening marriage conflict scene could have been quite powerfully rendered in the hands of a more gifted filmmaker. Notable, too is the noirish use of shadows in the four-handed cinematography.

It is great that Image has taken pains to preserve what's left of the film, but the film itself is a major disappointment--a drama of uninvolving proportions and laughably poor dialogue.

Ordered this for my Mom by request and she said it wasn't what she thought it would be. She had seen one on tv and this one wasn't it.