JohnHowardReid NOTES: Gary Cooper's second last film. He returned to England for "The Naked Edge" (1961), which was also directed by Michael Anderson.COMMENT: Most of us are suckers for sagas of the sea, and this one, as scripted by Eric Ambler from a Hammond Innes novel, offers us most of the standard ingredients that we expect and enjoy: a seemingly deserted ghost ship, mysteriously abandoned by her crew; a wreck; underwater thrills; a prejudiced court of inquiry where things go horribly wrong for our hero; the cowardly captain who didn't go down with his ship, now spurned by his former comrades; an evil mate, spurring on a mutinous crew; salvage and greed. Yes, these are the mainstays of many another nautical tale from "Reap the Wild Wind" to "Captain China" via "Johnny Angel". So what's so special about "Mary Deare?"Mostly the cast. Gary Cooper is just perfect as the victimized mate-turned-captain, while Charlton Heston makes a solid counterpoint. The strong support cast includes such favorites as Michael Redgrave (chillingly persuasive), Cecil Parker (a stickler of a blusterer with the brains of a cabbage), Virginia McKenna (an ambivalent but completely credible "heroine" whose role is small but effective), and Ben Wright (Heston's cautious partner). But the picture's stand-out performance comes not from any of the above worthies but from Emlyn Williams. The distinguished playwright/actor (Night Must Fall) turns the courtroom scene, in which he makes mincemeat out of Cooper, into the picture's most exciting sequence. Yes, thanks to Williams' incisive portrayal (and the probing dialogue handed to him), the court scene, not the action episodes, are what every picturegoer remembers about "The Wreck of the Mary Deare". This is not to say that the movie doesn't have its fair share of action. It does. The climax will have you on the edge of your seat.

Robert J. Maxwell Sometimes you can't help wondering why certain occupations produce so many accomplished writers -- pilots, seamen, and doctors, for instance. Maybe pilots tell good stories that are made into films because -- let's face facts -- what goes up must come down, one way or another. Doctors also can tell gripping stories about life and death decisions, and there's always blood involved. When was the last time a popular novel was written by a dermatologist? Seamen have the toughest time. They're not going to cash in on the audience's fear of flying, and they don't make decisions that, gone wrong, may fatally nick the subclavian artery.For sailors, they must heave the story up out of its marine context into psychology (eg., Conrad) or intrigue (eg., "The Wreck of the Mary Deare"). Storms at sea are fine, but you can hardly have a whole movie about a storm. "The Perfect Storm" was padded out with fiction. I guess "Typhoon" is all about a storm but to my knowledge it's never been filmed.Sorry. Kind of a tedious introduction, I know."The Wreck of the Mary Deare" takes place basically in three acts. (1) Charlton Heston's salvage boat almost runs into a derelict freighter in the middle of a storm off the French coast. He boards her and finds Gary Cooper, the sole occupant, hostile and suspicious. They manage to beach her amid some mean-looking rocks. (2) There is a formal investigation of the wreck by the insurance company and a court of inquiry, amounting to a courtroom drama. Cooper unfortunately is cast as the kind of defendant who wants to shout out "the truth" but is constantly being told to shut up and sit down and stop interrupting the proceedings. (3) The only way Cooper's curious behavior can be justified is by examining the cargo in Hold Three. He and Heston don wet suits, swim into the hold, prove their point, and successfully fight it out with the owner's henchmen on board.Innes' novel has a harrowing opening act. Like Nicholas Monserrat he has an eye for capturing the dramatic detail. The film doesn't get it. Heston, climbing a line to board the heavily rolling Mary Deare, SHOULD BE swung back and forth like a weight at the end of a pendulum, slammed against the cold iron hull every few seconds. In the film it looks like he's climbing a rope in a high school gymnasium. Still, we get a good impression of what a hostile and unsteady environment a cold deck can be, filthy and dark, wallowing and sloshing. You can almost smell the rust.My memory of the novel is fuzzy after so many years but the film's middle act isn't bad. I did, though, miss John Williams as Sir Wilfred, the prosecutor or barrister or chief inquisitor or whatever he is. John Williams has played so many investigators and detectives I've lost track -- "Dial M for Murder," "Witness for the Prosecution," "The Paradine Case," "To Catch a Thief." It was a criminal act to give the role to somebody named Emlyn Something. Pardon me while I call my solicitor.The novel did not end with an underwater fight. That's a kind of a cop out. SCUBA diving was becoming a popular sport in the 1950s, replacing snorkeling, which was for wimps. And wet suits were still something of a novelty on screen. (Cf., "Thunderball.") I believe, though, that a good argument could be made in favor of women in skimpy bathing suits SCUBA diving, rather than bulky men in full wet suits. Women look slick and phocine under water, as if built for it. Men may look better while running, but women look better while swimming. (These silly generalizations are exhilarating. Everybody should make one a day. We'd all be happy campers. No more wars in the Middle East. No more atonal music. No more, "Will Jessica Leave Brad"?)See it if it's on. Fine special effects and miniatures for the period. And note the best performance in the movie, by Richard Harris as a smiling and snide villain.

whpratt1 This is a great film Classic because of the great contributions that Gary Cooper gave to Hollywood on the silver screen and all his fans from the past and present. Charlton Heston, (John Sands), "Gideon",'99, gave a great supporting role as a salvage specialist who had great interests in the Mary Deare. However, Gary Cooper, (Gideon Patch), "The Naked Edge",'61, was the Captain in charge and had other ideas what he was going to do with his ship and a deep dark secret that was laying at the bottom of the ship. There is a great mystery looking at the foggy scenes of a ship fighting against the horrible waves of a rough ocean, with no course in sight. Virginia McKenna, (Janet Taggart), "Born Free",'66, was the daughter of the former Captain of the Mary Deare and had a very important letter from her dad that could possibly help Gideon Patch. This is by no means a typical sea story, there is plenty of meaning and depth to this entire picture. Enjoy good Acting from beginning to the very end.

tacquire Really good, sound drama with Gary Cooper and Charleton Heston involving the world of shipping and salvage. From the raging sea to the eeryness of an empty ship, to the court room and back it maintains a very good pace.