magicshadows-90098 This is a wonderful little thriller with Bela in top form. We have a very strange tale here, set in late 1800's. If you don't wish to probe the darkness of humanity you may not find this tale interesting. A sea captain (Margetson) wants to marry and take his bride (Shirley Grey) on his next voyage. A strange wish to say the least. Another sailor, Anton Lorenzen (Lugosi) has just returned from sea a shattered man, a victim of being shanghaied.Lugosi learns the Mary Celeste is set to sail so he joins the crew, intent upon righting a wrong. Margetson is ruthless, but less so than many of the other men aboard the ship. There is a strange tension aboard the ship. Margetson stole Grey from an old friend, so even the romance seems doomed. First mate Bilson (Edmund Willard) is a ferocious thug and he is responsible for much of the dread and mayhem aboard the Celeste. The ship is portrayed as a hell hole. The men who sail her are soulless monsters capable of any crime. Grey witnesses many of the cruelties and she (and the viewer) wonders why he asked her to sail with him.Lugosi is a quiet and gentle man as shown by his kindness to the cat. Willard sees the cat on the ship and tries to throw it overboard, but with one arm, Lugosi thwarts Willard and saves the cats life. Yet Lugosi will show no kindness to the devils responsible for his current state. During a vicious storm, sailors begin to disappear one by one.Frankly I'm flabbergasted that the film is rated so lowly. It is unfortunate that the complete film is presumed lost. The missing 20 minutes would be very welcomed. But the guts of the tale remain and it's not a shining one for humanity. Dark, brooding and at the center, gentle Bela enacting revenge one murder after another. This film is close to a masterpiece.

Hitchcoc While this isn't the greatest film in history, the Marie Celeste is a puzzle and it's fun watching her self-destruct. Lugosi showed some real chops in this film. Not long after Dracula, we get to see him play a character who is filled with vengeance and fury. Lugosi makes him a really sympathetic person who has obviously been wronged and has seemingly given up on life. The relationship of the captain and his wife on board this strange ship is a bit strained. Why would he do this? Also, there has to be a reel missing from this film. There are a couple of deaths that simply happen but we aren't privy to them. I've always enjoyed the claustrophobic milieu that is a ship, no escape available for anyone, and this one uses that closed in atmosphere pretty well. Still, it is pretty unsatisfying at times.

dadabigalow Well I woke early this morning and just finished viewing Image Entertainment's "Phantom-Ship" Bela Lugosi (1935). I must say I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a pretty good. Especially since the only copies I've every seen for sale are unusually @ 'The Dollar Store" or in the Walmart 2$ bin, sandwiched in a triple feature combo DVD with the likes of "Coffin of Dr. Blood" and "The Screaming Skull".The DVD transfer was pretty good. I suspect it was made from a good 35mm print. I would have like to seen a special feature or 2 (Commentary, Maybe a small Feature on the "Making of" or the "Restoration of", like Image did with Kino on some of the other older films. On a Side-Note: Is it just me or is Edmund Willard (who played Toby Bilson) a spitting image of Lon Chaney Sr. I bet that wasn't by accident.I must say that the more Odd-ball rolls I've seen lately that Bela did in his lifetime. The more impressed I am with his acting. And the more disappointed I am in the Hollywood of the 30's. I single out the 30's from the 40's - 50's because that was where I think they missed the boat. (no pun intended) Bela had so much more to offer us.Today's Hollywood is always giving actor's a 2nd or 3rd chance to show us the greatness they are capable of. Look at Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler". If Tom Hanks work in the 30's would we have ever seen anything from him after "Turner & Hooch"? He would be stuck making "Beethoven 6 in 3D" or "Marley & Me, Pt.II".Im not saying it's a great film, It has many flaws. But it was enjoyable to watch. As I watched the "Phantom Ship" especially Bela in the (I've killed one of my fellow men) scene. It started me thinking, what could Bela have done with the Spencer Tracy roll in "Captains-Courageous"? I suspect Hollywood owes Bela and the rest of the "Viewing Public" an apology.

lastliberal Despite the fact that this film is of poor quality (actually it is supposedly the remains of a longer film), it is still a good mystery.The Mary Celeste was actually found at sea with no crew left. What happened to them? The Captain (Arthur Margetson) married a woman (Shirley Grey) loved by another Captain. he paid a crew member to dispatch the Captain at the first opportunity. Did he succeed? Or was it Bela Lugosi (in his only Hammer film) as Anton Lorenzen, a man who was shanghaied six years earlier and wanted revenge? This film may not be historically accurate, but it is a good story. It is also a chance to see Bela Lugosi in a dramatic, non-horror role. After who really knows what happened?