Barco sin puerto

Although Gary Cooper doesn't appear on screen for the first ten minutes or so, this movie is clearly his. Charlton Heston is billed second, and while his part is substantial, Cooper ultimately gets the meat of the movie. It's downright striking when Cooper, as Patch, first appears. This sea-wary captain looks nothing like the dapper romantic lead we associate with Cooper. He's grizzled, tired and dirty from head to toe. Cooper never got his universally-praised swan song moment before he passed, mainly because critics at the time panned a wonderful little movie called Love in the Afternoon based solely upon the age difference between Cooper and Audrey Hepburn.

You may not even notice, but there's very little dialog for the first forty minutes of this movie. There's such an eerie feeling, and so much going on visually, that dialog isn't even necessary. The special effects are stunning in this film. Everything in this picture, unlike contemporary movies, looks utterly believable. The beginning in particular has a few breathless sequences which certainly stand the test of time visually.

This picture is directed very capably by Michael Anderson; it nearly became an Alfred Hitchcock production before Hitchcock decided to make a little film called North by Northwest instead. No matter, Anderson, of Logan's Run and Around the World in Eighty Days fame, does a fine job at the helm. Heston plays his part, Sands, very well; free of the grandness and scope that people usually peg him for from the epics. Richard Harris also takes the villain role which could have easily come off as silly and made it dangerous and creepy.

I give this movie a 9 because I think the script could have used a couple lighter moments between Cooper and Heston. The ending scene, while a little short, was especially well-done. It takes on added emotional weight by the fact that this film would be Cooper's second to last. Watch this movie for Heston. Watch it for Harris. Watch it to see the pairing of two heavyweights in Cooper and Heston, but especially watch it for Cooper.

John Sands is the captain of a small rescue ship, one night he finds the Mary Deare drifting towards him. Sensing an opportunity for salvage rights, he boards her thinking the crew has long since gone. Yet the Mary Deare has one survivor, the enigmatic first officer Gideon Patch. Patch is acting strange and refuses to make sense when probed by Sands about the events on the ship, but as the two men steady the ship and come together, Sands agrees to keep quiet about the Mary Deare until the official investigation of the incident is heard on dry land.

Gary Cooper (Patch) & Charlton Heston (Sands), two giants both in stature and iconic standing, come together here in a drama mystery that is awash with old fashioned values. Based on the Hammond Innes novel, The Wreck Of The Mary Deare fuses action and suspense and then cloaks it in a court room denouement. For practically the first hour of the piece we are left purely in the hands of Cooper and Heston, both men bouncing off each other with acting gravitas born out of sheer hard work, it really is a thrill to witness both men giving gusto.

That this film is rarely mentioned in classic circles comes as surprise to me, I can only think that many feel that both the leads here deserved a better project? Maybe that this pairing should have produced a more memorable piece? Yet the film was a positive joy for me, a hark back to days when the effects masters had to graft and sweat for a desired effect, a time when men were men, a time when the likes of Gary Cooper got the job done in spite of illness.

Also here a young fresh faced Richard Harris puts down his marker for the future, his Higgins is both arrogant and snide in equal measure. Although the accent is a bit bemusing to myself, it's a memorable turn that delivers all that's required. Emlyn Williams & Michael Redgrave flesh out the solid support, whilst Michael Anderson (The Dam Busters) directs with knowing and careful hands. The film feels as though it was released far earlier than 1959, but that is in no way a bad thing, in fact it's quite a pleasant surprise. 7.5/10

Gary Cooper and Charlton Heston star in "The Wreck of the Mary Deare," along with an incredible supporting cast including Richard Harris, Michael Redgrave, Alexander Knox, and Emlyn Williams. The reason for such a cast? The original director was to be Alfred Hitchcock.

Heston plays John Sands, captain of a small rescue ship, who finds the freighter Mary Deare drifting. The crew seems to have abandoned the ship, but there's one person left, the first officer Gideon Patch. What happened on board isn't certain, but Patch begs Sands not to say anything about the ship until there is an official investigation and the ship is examined by an objective third party. Sands goes along, though this means not telling anyone that ship hasn't sunk, as people are led to believe, but that it is on the Minquiries Islands.

Very good drama, with a screenplay by suspense writer Eric Ambler. The shipboard atmosphere and storm sequences are great, and the performances are strong. Despite filming shutdowns due to Gary Cooper being ill, you wouldn't know it from his fiery portrayal of Patch, whose reputation and career are on the line. Heston does very well opposite him.

This is really the best of Gary Cooper's last few films. He only made one film after this, The Naked Edge, released in 1961 after his death, and that was a bomb. By that point, he had to stop filming frequently to get oxygen. He was ill while making "Mary Deare," but probably didn't realize that he had cancer. Amazing that he worked to the very end. He deservedly died the huge star that he had been for 30-plus years.

Very good movie, suspenseful, with great performances, atmosphere, and effects.

The Wreck of the Mary Deare was the next to last film of Gary Cooper and it pairs him with Charlton Heston who was fresh off his Oscar from Ben-Hur. Between the two of them they were the heroes of six sound Cecil B. DeMille films. And this film does have some special effects old C.B. DeMille might have enjoyed.

Salvage tug captain Charlton Heston based in the UK comes across an abandoned freighter named the Mary Deare. Only Gary Cooper, sporting a head injury, and acting very mysterious is on the vessel. When raging seas prevent Heston from reboarding his ship, Cooper saves his life by hauling Heston on board when he can't hold on to the rope.

In the meantime Cooper completes his objective which was to beach the ship on a series of jagged rocks in the English Channel named the Minquieries. He's doing this because he suspects skullduggery from the crew and the late captain of the Mary Deare.

Americans Cooper and Heston are given good support by a cast of players from the UK such as Emlyn Williams, Michael Redgrave, Alexander Knox, and Mary Ure. The villain of the piece is second officer Richard Harris in one of his early and acclaimed parts before he became a star.

The Minquiries have a lot of legend about them. They are the top of an Atlantic based plateau. None of them are big enough to rate being called an island. Smugglers and pirates in centuries passed piled many a ship on them and looted the contents. Today the only thing on them are small fishing huts. They are a well known hazard to navigation.

The scenes involving the wrecking and salvage of the ship are well done. Many years ago I saw a picture of MGM's special effects man Buddy Gillespie inside the tank with the model of the Mary Deare. It was an interesting insight into the special effects game on the high seas.

Fans of both Cooper and Heston will like this film. I suspect C.B. DeMille regretted not having a chance to direct his two favorite leading men in a joint project.

Anyone connected to the sea or anyone who just likes a good sea story is going to love this movie. This movie isn't Ben Hur or High Noon nor does it try to be, but this is still a very worthwhile movie. The opening scenes of this film set it's mysterious and eerie tempo, almost a film nourish character that carries the viewer through the movie. I particularly enjoyed the scenes depicting the ship itself and found them to be more realistic and believable and better shot than almost any other movie of the genre. I can only hope that one day this long forgotten film with be rediscovered and find a new audience in a DVD version.