IMDb > The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959)
The Wreck of the Mary Deare
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The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959) More at IMDbPro »


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Overview

User Rating:
6.7/10   849 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 12% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Eric Ambler (screenplay)
Hammond Innes (novel)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Wreck of the Mary Deare on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
6 November 1959 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
The Saga of the Derelict, Mary Deare... the strange secret she carried... the desperate voyage and plot to sink her!
Plot:
A disgraced merchant marine officer elects to stay aboard his sinking cargo ship in order to prove the vessel was deliberately scuttled and, as a result, vindicate his good name. full summary | add synopsis
User Comments:
Piling the Ship On the Minquieries more (20 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Gary Cooper ... Gideon Patch

Charlton Heston ... John Sands
Michael Redgrave ... Mr. Nyland
Emlyn Williams ... Sir Wilfred Falcett
Cecil Parker ... The Chairman
Alexander Knox ... Petrie
Virginia McKenna ... Janet Taggart

Richard Harris ... Higgins
Ben Wright ... Mike
Peter Illing ... Gunderson
Terence de Marney ... Frank
Ashley Cowan ... Burrows
Charles Davis ... Yules, Quartermaster on Mary Deare
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Additional Details

Runtime:
105 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Metrocolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System)
Certification:
Australia:G | USA:Approved (certificate #19326) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-12

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Production had to be closed down several times due to Gary Cooper's frequent illnesses. more
Quotes:
Sir Wilfred Falcett: [During court testimony] After the loss of the Silver Isle, you found yourself, as the saying goes, "on the beach" for some considerable time, did you not?
Gideon Patch: Yes.
Sir Wilfred Falcett: You were glad to be taken on as a third officer?
Gideon Patch: Yes.
Sir Wilfred Falcett: That must have been a bitter experience for you, the sort of experience ends to put a chip on a man's shoulder. Wouldn't you agree?
Gideon Patch: That depends on the man!
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FAQ

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16 out of 20 people found the following comment useful.
Piling the Ship On the Minquieries, 24 May 2006
7/10
Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

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.

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