Mystery Of The Mary Celeste

Mystery of the Mary Celeste (80 minutes)

US Title: Phantom Ship (62 minutes)

Original length: 7,261 feet.

Filmed in July and August, 1935.

Produced for Hammer Studios by H. Fraser Passmore.

Directed by Denison Clift, from his story.

Screenplay by Denison Clift & Charles Lackworthy.

Edited by John Seabourne.

Continuity by Tilly Day.

Art Direction by J. Elder Wills.

Musical Direction by Eric Ansell.

Cinematography by Geoffrey Faithfull & Eric Cross.

Cast

Bela Lugosi – Anton Lorenzen

Shirley Grey – Sarah Briggs

Arthur Margetson – Captain Benjamin Briggs

Edmund Willard – Toby Bilson

Dennis Hoey - Tom Goodschard

George Mozart – Tommy Duggan

Johnny Schofield – Peter Tooley

Gunner Moir – Ponta Katz

Ben Welden – Boas Hoffman

Clifford McLaglen – Captain Morehead

Bruce Gorden - Olly Deveau

Gibson Gowland - Andy Gilling

Terence DeMarney – Charlie Kaye

J. Edward Pierce – Arian Harbens

Herbert Cameron – Volkerk Grot

Wilfred Essex – Horatio Sprague

James Carew – James Winchester

Monti DeLyle - Portunato

Alec Fraser – Commodore Mahon

Ben Soutten – Jack Sampson

J.B. Williams – Judge

Charles Mortimer – Attorney-General

The famous ‘Q’ Ship Mary B Mitchell – Mary Celeste

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Denison Clift’s typewritten synopsis

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Two shots of Bela enroute to England aboard the SS Berengaria

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The Daily Renter, July 10, 1935

EXPECTED to meet Bela Lugosi and Shirley Grey at a party which Hammer Productions had arranged for tomorrow. At the last moment I received a telegram, which tells me I shall have to put off meeting the famous exponent of “Dracula” until next Monday. Well, can’t say that the interval will occasion me any great pain, and possibly a week-end’s rest will stimulate me for the occasion – although a Dracula in the flesh, I’ve a strong idea, may not be anything like as fearsome as a Dracula in the shadow.

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The Daily Renter, July 11, 1935

Another change of plans was announced yesterday by Hammer Productions in regard to when and where the Press should meet Bela Lugosi and Shirley Grey, who are, of course, appearing in the coming picture, “The Mystery of the Mary Celeste.” Originally the party was scheduled for Thursday…then they switched it over to Monday…yesterday they switched it back again to Friday…so if a few bewildered Pressmen eventually turn up expecting to see Bela Shirley and Lugosi Grey don’t blame me. It will be the result of general confusion.

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Southern Echo, July 12, 1935

FILM QUARTET ARRIVES

Unexpected Thrill for Jean Parker

Four well-known film stars had their first glimpse of England when the Cunard White Star Berengeria (sic) docked at Southampton to-day.

One was Miss Jean Parker, the 18-years-old American girl who went straight from a Pasadena schoolroom to the film studio and already has starred in three big pictures – “Rasputin,” “Little Women” and the remarkable animal film “Sequoia.”

Her thrill at her first sight of England was only equalled by her excitement when she learned for the first time at Southampton that in the film she has come over to make she is to play opposite Robert Donat.

“I have always wanted to play with him,” she said. “He has always been my hero, but little did I think when I agreed to come over that he would be in the picture.”

Mr. Eugene Pallette, who has been on the films for 25 years, and is a famous film detective, was the second of the quartet. He is to play in the same film with Miss Parker.

SEA MYSTERY

The other two actors, Miss Shirley Grey and Mr. Bela Lugosi are to play in a screen version of “The Mystery of the Marie Celeste,” a version that will offer a solution of the great sea mystery.

Miss Grey will take the only woman’s role in the film and Mr. Lugosi, who was Dracula in the film of that name, and plays most;y “human vampire” parts, will have the “evil spirit” part.

Although he is known to the public chiefly through his “vampire” parts, Mr. Lugosi said: ” It does not make me a vampire off the films. I am really a very jolly person, and my wife is not a bit afraid of me.”

Mr. Lugosi is a Hungarian, and when he went to America in 1920 the only words of English he knew were “yes” and “no.”

Now he speaks good English, though with a foreign accent.

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The Daily Renter, July 13, 1935

BELA LUGOSI - SHIRLEY GREY reception actually took place last night. Right up until I saw the two transatlantic visitors in the flesh, I was a little doubtful as to whether they would eventuate, for as you know, it had been arranged for the Press to meet them on Thursday last, and then on Monday next! Lugosi, an extremely genial fellow, has a keen sense of humour in regard to his “eerie” characterisations. Anyone less sinister would be difficult to imagine. Shirley Grey, too, like Lugosi, is here on her first visit; hopes to do another film, in addition to the “Mary Celeste,” before returning to Hollywood. Travelled over with him on the “Berengaria,” but neither of them knew they were both to play in the same British picture.

Lester Matthews, Irene Ware and Bela Lugosi are prominent in this scene from Universal’s Edgar Allan Poe drama, “The Raven,” which is due for presentation to the trade on Tuesday next, at the Prince Edward, at 8.45

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Bela during location filming aboard the Mary B Mitchell

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Daily Mirror, July 13, 1935

4 NEW ARRIVALS FROM HOLLYWOOD

—–

JEAN PARKER THRILLED TO ACT WITH HER FAVOURITE STAR

—–

Man of 1,000 Films

By SEATON MARGRAVE

Four film celebrities, who have never been to England before, arrived in London last night from Hollywood. They are:

Miss Jean Parker, who played Beth in “Little Women”;

Mr. Eugene Pallette, who is one of the most popular veterans of the film world;

Mr. Bela Lugosi, who played the title role in “Dracula”; and

Miss Shirley Grey, of “Black Street” and “The Little Giant.”

Miss Parker and Mr. Pallette are to play in “The Glourie Ghost,” which Mr. Rene Clair is to direct for London Film Productions and in which Mr. Robert Donat is also to star.

Hollywood has hitherto sent us no one like Miss Parker. When I met her at Claridge’s last night she was delighted to talk of anything but herself. She curled herself on a seat, gave me one of her best Beth smiles, and exclaimed:

“Can you imagine me in London? Can you imagine it I thought when I was old I might come to London, but here I am all in a hurry, and I wish I could stay a year.”

Miss Parker is only 19 and is utterly unspoiled. She is thrilled by the thought that but for the Olympic Games having been held in Los Angeles she might never have been a film star.

She was one of the many girls chosen from the Pasadena High School to be on a “float” in an Olympic procession. A picture of that procession was printed in a Los Angeles newspaper, and the piquant face of the smiling school girl with the wide brown eyes attracted a studio official, who went to the trouble of finding the owner of the face and inviting her to have a screen test.

“I am thrilled by playing opposite Mr. Donat, ” said Miss Parker. “I think I shall blush when I see him because I am one of his most enthusiastic fans.”

Miss Parker is no longer a school girl, but she still retains a delightful school-girl charm. Mr. Donat is the shyest of film stars. So their first meeting should be an occasion of charming embarrassment.

Mr Eugene Pallette is a very different character. He is a real and grand actor who has appeared in more than 1,000 films.

“Can you remember the first film in which you appeared?” I asked.

“That’s a hot one,” he exclaimed. No, I can’t. It was 25 years ago and in those days I was in training for Wild Westerns – and look at me now.”

* * *

To-Day’s Cinema News And Property Gazette, July 15, 1935

Prince Edward Apparition

Bela Lugosi (I refuse to write “appearance” of such a master of the macabre) is to make a personal apparition with his latest Universal production, “The Raven,” at the Prince Edward trade show on Tuesday night.

A more un-Dracula-like person in real life than Bela Lugosi it would be hard to imagine. He is a most hail-fellow-well-met chappie, whose most striking characteristics are a beaming good humour and a remarkable capacity for forgetting facts about the films he has appeared in, so that he had to check up with his wife on a good deal of the information he supplied me.

Bela is over here to make “Marie Celeste” for Hammer Productions. His last films were “Murder by Television,” a Cameo production, and Universal’s “Raven,” and he will go back in a few weeks’ time to make three more for Universal: “Invisible Ray,” “Blue Beard,” and “Dracula’s Daughter.”

Shirley Grey was also at the reception: she hopes to make another film here after “Celeste,” and among others of the cast present was Gibson Gowland, busy growing a new beard for his part of ship’s carpenter.

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To-Day’s Cinema News And Property Gazette, July 18, 1935

Lugosi in Person

At the Universal trade show of “The Raven” on Tuesday evening at the Prince Edward, Bela Lugosi, a starred player, made a personal appearance. Introduced on the stage, he spoke a few words of gratitude for his reception – which was certainly hearty – and expressed a hope that the picture that followed would be enjoyed and make money.

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Kinematograph Weekly, July 18, 1935

Shirley Grey for Denison Clift

Bela Lugosi and Shirley Grey (now seen everywhere as Anne of Green Gables) arrive this week to play for Denison Clift.

They are the stars of Mystery of the Marie Celeste, the Hammer Production, to be handled by C.M. Woolfe’s new renting concern, General Film Distributors.

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A striking portrait of Bela as Anton Lorenzen

Courtesy of www.doctormacro.com

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Kinematograph Weekly, July 18, 1935

LONG SHOTS

BELA LUGOSI, over here to make “Marie Celeste” for Hammer Productions, belies (no pun) in his appearance the Dracula weirdness with which he is associated in the minds of kinema-goers. Happy looking, “the body’s habit wholly laudable,” he possibly disappointed some of the visitors to the Prince Edward on Tuesday evening by looking entirely un-macabre.

“The Raven,” in connection with the Trade show of which he appeared, is his latest picture, and he returns to Universal in a few weeks’ time to make three more, Invisible Ray,” “Bluebeard,” and “Dracula’s Daughter.”

In Bela Lugosi’s British film Shirley Grey, who arrived on the same boat, plays the only feminine role in the film, that of the daughter of the captain of the Marie Celeste.

Other visitors to this country from Hollywood are Jean Parker and Eugene Pallette, who are to play roles in “The laying of the Glourie Ghost,” which Rene Clair will produce. Pallette’s role is that of an American millionaire who buys the haunted castle.

LUGOSI says that women are the main stay of “horror” films. “Women are interested in terror for the sake of terror. For generations they have been the subject sex. This seems to have bred a masochistic instinct – an enjoyment of, or at least a keen interest in, suffering experience vicariously through the screen,” which answers Mr. Shortt.

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Bela aboard the Mary B. Mitchell

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The Daily Film Renter, July 18, 1935

Wardour Street Gossip

“Tatler”

FILM salesmen apart, one rarely sees persons with uncanny powers at trade shows, so Universal can claim something of an achievement in the personal appearance of Bela Lugosi at “The Raven” screening at the Prince Edward, Tuesday evening. Lugosi, of course, has made our blood curdle on frequent occasions in previous thrillers. A generous “hand” as he came on testified to his popularity with exhibitors, and he said his piece very nicely before withdrawing behind the tabs.

* * *

Film Weekly, July 19, 1935

Shirley Grey – who is among the latest arrivals from Hollywood –

“is one of those actresses you must have seen lots of times on the

screen, but have probably heard comparatively little about.”

BOATLOAD OF STARS

THE transatlantic liners have brought four more players to British studios – Jean Parker and Eugene Pallette for The Laying of the Glourie Ghost (London Films), and Shirley Grey and Bela Lugosi for The Mystery of the Marie Celeste” (Hammer Productions). All these players are in England for the first time in their lives – which just goes to show what a big place the world is, or something.

Jean Parker had never even been out of America, but she was not slow to seize her opportunity when it came. A cable arrived from Alexander Korda, Jean hopped on to an aeroplane bound for New York, and here she is, eighteen and sweetly simple, to provide Robert Donat with a heart-interest in his new picture. Eugene Pallette plays her father, the wealthy American millionaire who buys a Scottish castle and transports it wholesale to his native soil – complete with the resident ghost. Rene Clair has already started directing.

Bela Lugosi is over on a more sinister errand – the clearing up of the old mystery of what really happened on the “Marie Celeste.” Nobody knows. The ship was found entirely deserted in mid-ocean, with not even the smell of a clue. Hammer Productions got Dennison (sic) Clift to write his own idea of the affair. Not only does it involve such tough and sinister characters as Lugosi, Dennis Hoey and Clifford McLaglen, but it also introduces Beauty in the shape of Shirley Grey, who has a simply awful time, I’m told.

Lugosi himself quite belies his screen reputation – these actors always are so disappointing in real life. His Hungarian accent remains, but his fingers aren’t at all crooked, there was nobody to flash menacing spotlights into his eyes, and his manners are just too perfect. He even clicks his heels and bows when small boys ask him for his autograph. From now on, he’ll just be a very pleasant, middle-aged gentleman to me – even if he is Dracula to you!

Shirley Grey is one of those actresses you must have seen lots of times on the screen, but have probably heard comparatively little about. That is because she has always preferred to free-lance rather than tie herself up with any one studio in particular. Publicity departments don’t trouble themselves about players who are only going to be with them for one picture.

She is almost twenty-eight, and looks a little like Constance Cummings, though her blonde hair suggests her Swedish origin. Her father, a Mr. Zetterstrand, was a Swedish Lutheran minister who migrated to America before Shirley’s birth. She went on the stage as soon as she had left school, and, within two years, was playing leading roles on Broadway. Then she had a shot at films, opposite Richard Dix in The Public Defender, and has stuck to pictures ever since.

She hopes to return to the stage while she is over here. She has no need to go back to America until she wants to. First comes The Mystery of the “Marie Celeste.” Then a trip around the English countryside (on the strict instructions of her friend, Carl Brisson). Then perhaps a play, or perhaps another movie.

Miss Grey has done some good work on the screen, but has still to get her big “break.” It might be an idea to take a leaf out of Hollywood’s book – adopt her as our own and “build her up.” that is, of course, provided she is willing to stay long enough.

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Film Pictorial, July 20, 1935

VILLAINS SOMETIMES SLEEP!

Our camerman caught these two napping – Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, appearing together in “The Raven,” just completed at Universal. Lugosi recently arrived in England to star in “The Mystery of the Marie Celeste” for Hammer Productions. (Personally, we prefer our villains like this, they’re safe this way!) Also in the “Marie Celeste,” which is being made at Ealing, is the lovely Shirley Grey, one of the busiest actresses in Hollywood, who is paying her first visit to England. She is the only woman in the cast.

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Film Weekly, July 25, 1935

I LIKE HORROR PARTS

Says

BELA LUGOSI

The screen “Dracula,” who has come to England to play in “The Mystery of the Marie Celeste” and “Dr. Nikola,” explains in this exclusive article why he not only likes but actually prefers horror parts to all others.

I like playing “horror” parts on the screen. This may surprise you, but let me explain my point of view. There is a popular idea that portraying a monster of the Dracula type requires no acting ability. People are apt to think that anyone who likes to put on a grotesque make-up can be a fiend. That is wrong.

A monster, to be convincing, must have a character and a brain.

The screen monster produced by mere tricks of make-up and lighting will never thrill an audience. It will make them laugh! It is just a machine which does not understand what it is doing.

Now, imagine this creature with a character, with reasoning power and certain human mental facilities. It is no longer a machine. It can think.

Such a monster is able to thrill an audience. It can plot against the hero and heroine. It is a menace which must be combated by brains, not by running away.

We are all more afraid of cunning than brute force. Therefore, the monster must have cunning to trap his victims – physical strength is not enough to convince an audience.

Now, perhaps, you begin to see why I find the playing of fiends interesting!

When I am given a new role in a horror film, I have a character to create just as much as if I were playing a straight part.

Whether one thinks of films like Dracula as “hokum” or not does not alter the fact; the horror actor must believe in his part. The player who portrays a film monster with his tongue in his cheek is doomed to failure.

An example of this occurred not very long ago. An actor, whose name I will not mention, played the part of a sinister foreign villain. He had been used to straight parts, and he went into this film laughing at himself. He did the correct villainous actions, but he had his tongue in his cheek all the time.

The villain was completely unconvincing and as a result the film was a flop at the box office. Later, an almost exactly similar character was played by another actor. He took it seriously. Audiences believed tin the villain and the film was a success.

I am not saying that I personally take seriously these vampires and monsters as such. I am saying that one must take them seriously when one is portraying them.

In playing Dracula, I have to work myself up into believing that he is real, to ascribe to myself the motives and emotions that such a character would feel. For a time, I become Dracula — not merely an actor playing at being a vampire.

A good actor will “make” a horror part. He will build up the character until it convinces him and he is carried away by it.

There are, of course, plenty of tricks of the trade to be employed, such as effective make-up, clever photography, a threatening voice and claw-like gestures with the hands. These are important in the “hokum” film and must be used. But even they must be employed with intelligence or they will fail to thrill.

To leave the theoretical discussion of so-called monsters, there is another reason why I do not mind being “typed” in eerie thrillers.

With few exceptions, there are, among actors, only two types who matter at the box office. They are heroes and villains. The men who play these parts are the only ones whose names you will see in electric lights outside the theater.

Obviously, I cannot play a juvenile part — you will not find me competing with Clark Gable or Robert Montgomery! Therefore, I have gone to the other extreme in my search for success and public acclaim.

Every year a number of films with fantastic or supernatural characters are made, and will, it seems, continue to be made, whatever may happen to the horror “cycle” of pictures. I have deliberately specialized in such characters — and I firmly believe there will be suitable roles for me for a long time to come!

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Bela aboard the Mary B Mitchell off the coast of Falmouth

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Kinematograph Weekly, August 1, 1935

Sea Mystery Unit Now at Walton

Hammer Productions’s unit, which is making The Marie Celeste, is now back from Falmouth where they finished shooting well up to schedule.

They are now safely ensconced at Walton-on-Thames.

* * *

The Daily Film Renter, August 1, 1935

NIGHT WORK ON

“MARY CELESTE”

Down at the Walton-on-Thames studios, Hammer are busy on “The Mystery of the Mary Celeste,” the company having returned from Falmouth where sea locations were shot. Feverish activity was the order of the night recently when Bela Lugosi, Arthur Margetson, Shirley Grey and other members of the cast played on a large set in a field adjoining the studio. Representing part of the hulk of the “Mary Celeste,” the erection included a picturesque quayside building.

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Film Weekly August 16, 1935

Main photo caption: “A dramatic scene between Bela Lugosi (right) and Edmund Willard. Lugosi was brought from Hollywood specially to play in the film. Right: Shirley Grey plays the only woman’s part in the picture.”

Article: “The Hammer production, The Mystery of the Mary Celeste, is based on one of the sea’s most baffling problems. The ship, Mary Celeste, was found in 1872 drifting with all sails set but not a soul on board and nothing to indicate where or why they had gone. The solution suggested in the present story is being kept a close secret. The film is said to be notable for its fine character studies of seamen, some of which are illustrated below.”

Photos (L-R): Clifford McLaglen, Gibson Gowland, George Mozart and Gunner Moir

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The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, August 12, 1935

Britain On The Screen

Unsolved Mystery

Bela Lugosi, of “Dracula” fame, has come to England to play the lead in a version, to be made by Hammer Productions Ltd., of “The Myatery of the Marie Celeste,” the famous American brig which sailed from New York in 1872 and was found in mid-ocean with all sails set, still on her course, with not a soul on board.

The mystery has never been solved, but the director, Denison Clift, has written a film solution from data supplied him by Lloyd’s and the American Mercantile Marine authorities.

Shirley Grey will play the only woman’s part.

* * *

Film Star Weekly, August 17, 1935

Bayla Lu-go-she is Here

BELA LUGOSI is in London. That uncanny monster of horror pictures, whom we were first introduced to as Count Dracula, with his frightening, death-like pallor, piercing eyes, and his altogether Mesphisto-like appearance. Without his “war paint,” as he calls it, you don’t recognise the horrific creature you’ve seen on the screen; you see instead an engaging aristocrat; with the European courtesy of his native Hungary, from which he fled as a political refugee to America.

It was noticing how women pack court-rooms at murder trials that gave him the idea that horror films would have the same appeal.

“I suppose it’s because a woman, being psychologically high-strung, likes shocks to the nervous system, as a counter irritant to her nervous tension,” he said when I saw him after making a personal appearance after the press show of “The Raven.”

When Bela Lugosi arrived here – by the way, his name is pronounced Bayla Lu-go-she – he started straight away on his first British picture, which is Dennison (sic) Clift’s “The Mystery of the Mary Celeste.”

When he was approached to play the part of Anton Lorenzen in this film, he said: “Are there any bats in it? I hate them, but invariably have at least one in my films.”

So if you meet Bela Lugosi here, don’t mention bats!

* * *

Planning revenge in Jack Sampson’s quayside bar

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The Strait Times (Singapore), August 20, 1935

FILM STARS IN LONDON

Bela Lugosi, accompanied by his wife, and Shirley Grey, the film stars, arrived in London by the Berengaria boat train from America. They are to appear in the new film the “Return of the Marie Celeste.”

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Associated Press photograph, August 27, 1935

New York - Bela Lugosi, one of the several Horror men of Hollywood, pictured with his wife on the S.S. Majestic today August 27th when they returned from a trip to Europe

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New York World Telegram, August 28, 1935

BEING HORRIBLE IS A GOOD BUSINESS TO BELA LUGOSI,

BUT HE ENJOYED BEING LOVABLE IN NEW BRITISH ROLE

Scaring folks allows him to buy drinks for the boys

Asa Bordages

Bela Lugosi, the Dracula of the movies, let his pretty wife put a red carnation in his buttonhole as he had his say about moviemaking in England and Hollywood. For one thing, he found the English courteous.

Mr. Lugosi, a No. 1 creeps and shiver man in Hollywood, profitably hated by film fans everywhere, confided happily that in a picture he has just finished making in England, he at least had a chance to be seen as a nice man. The only people he has to scare are the villains, which is a great relief.

“I am just the opposite to all the roles I ever played before,” he said, and his gesture of enthusiasm brushed the red carnation almost from his buttonhole. Mrs Lugosi quietly straightened the flower as Dracula gayly added that he plays a kindly derelict. And he is the most loveable fellow, too. In fact he exclaimed in triumph -

“Why, I’m killing about seven people, and everybody will love me!”

The film is a version of “The Mystery of the Mary Celeste,” a mystery never solved in the long years since the brig Mary Celeste (some call her the Marie Celeste) was found at sea with all sails set, a meal on the table, everything shipshape – and no trace of the master, his wife, his child or the crew.

It is, said Mr. Lugosi, a “wonderful story.” but now he must quit being loveable for a while. For Mr. Lugosi, who arrived with his wife on the Majestic yesterday, has only one week of grace before returning to Hollywood to start frightening little children again.

There is, however, consolation for being horrible. As Mr. Lugosi explained while his wife tried again to fix the red carnation more firmly in his buttonhole: – -

“It’s a good business, so I can buy steamship tickets, give tips and invite the boys for a drink. If I wouldn’t make such pictures – maybe trash – I couldn’t do it.”

It is not, however, money which brings Mr. Lugosi back to Hollywood. For he said:–

“They pay all the money in the world in London. I don’t get half as much in Hollywood.”

The single reason, he said, is that he wants to live here. If he hadn’t he never would have given up his native Hungary to become an American citizen.

“The idea,” he said, “is that I myself feel the most loyal to America you can imagine. But I feel that way if somebody does something I do not think is right, I am like a mother going to spank.”

And some of the things he saw making movies in England made him feel that way about the home folks. Or some of them, at least.

“I think England, if they would have the sense to buy the technicians of Hollywood, they would be very, very keen competition to Hollywood on account Hollywood doesn’t let authors, writers exploit and deliver their talents and imaginations. It has to go through the mill, not be passed by one individual talent, right or wrong.”

“There is something in England we do not have in the matter of courtesy. Whether they like you or not, they feel if they would not be kind, courteous, they would offend themselves.”

“I observed a lot in England in the way of courtesy I would like to spread here. They don’t curtail authors so much. They work more at leisure. They are rested people working. That is why they sometimes get the results they do.”

And just then his wife once again straightened the red carnation, and gave it a little pat. Mr. Lugosi said:–

“As far as I can think now with my paralyzed brain, that is all I have to say.”

* * *

Taking a break during shooting. Director Dennison Clift can be glimpsed in the background

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UK trade show newspaper advertisement

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To-Day’s Cinema, November 16, 1935

The Cinema, November 20, 1935

Full marks may be awarded this Hammer production in respect of its realistic settings, faithful maritime atmosphere and resourceful blend of thrill, mystery and sensation with effective comic relief. It is, in a word, a picture which the popular patron should enjoy, for the will not be concerned so much with narrative drawbacks as with colourful surface incident.

The drama deals with the gradual decimation of the crew of the “Mary Celeste,” a veritable ship of death manned in the main by shanghaied desperadoes. Most of these would cheerfully slit the throats of the others, and it is the problem of spotting the mysterious murderer which so closely holds the onlooker’s interest. First a hurricane shatters the doomed ship, and a painter is killed by a boom; then a hand casts covetous eyes on the captain’s bride, and is struck down by an apparently meek-and-mild Anton, while in turn a prize-fighter is found murdered at the wheel; a sailor is killed by the cook while saving the captain’s life; the latter himself meets his death in his galley; his pal hurls himself from a yard; and the captain and his bride just disappear.

Finally, but three men are left, including the impeccable Anton, and the other two, each feeling assured that the other is the murderer, fight until one more is removed from the scheme of things. Anton now reveals himself as the age-old enemy of the sole survivor, and following on another scrap flings him to the sharks, throwing himself into the sea realising his utter loneliness on the ship of death. Thus it is that the “Mary Celeste” has been found derelict, keeping her grim secrets until the end of time, despite enquiries by an Admiralty Court.

The series of baffling crimes are put over in a series of episodes which each pay their quota of thrill, not least in the headlong dive of a demented seaman from a lofty yard-arm. Fortunately, the horror of the succession of murders is suggested rather than clearly demonstrated, but for all that we are appreciative of the Cockney comedy relief so cleverly registered by George Mozart in the role of the cook. Thus in clear-cut sequences of sensation, humour and spectacle – the storm scenes are realistically handled – the drama moves to its suspenseful end, and it is only the baffling disappearance of the captain and his bride which may not be appreciated by the appropriate surveyor.

On the portrayal side, the narrative is strong, presenting Bela Lugosi as the mysterious Anton, Arthur Margetson as the captain, Shirley Grey as his horrified bride, Edmund Willard as the tough first mate, and Ben Weldon, Dennis Hoey, Gibson Gowland, Herbert Cameron, Terence de Marnay, Johnny Schofield and Edgar Pierce in the well-played parts of members of the crew, with Clifford McLaglen and Bruce Gordon effective as officers of a salvage vessel.

* * *

Edmund Willard and Bela

* * *

The daily Film Renter, November 16, 1935

This is a kinematic attempt to solve the mystery of the ill-fated “Mary Celeste,” a windjammer found derelict in mid-Atlantic in 1872. Brought in to Gibraltar by Captain Morehead (who claims salvage money), the vessel is the subject of an inquiry by an Admiralty Court.

The development then switches to a flashback, in which the tragedy is unfolded, it being revealed the crew perished in a welter of accidents and murders, most of the trouble being engineered by Anton Lorenzen, a half-crazed bosun, out for revenge on the brutal first mate, Bilson, who shanghaied him in his youth.

It is pretty grim fare, akin to a Grand Guignol performance, with sudden deaths and disaster galore. In fact, slaughter becomes so commonplace it ceases to have more than a passing significance. A realistically staged hurricane finds a human parallel in the attempted seduction of the captain’s bride. Humour is mainly supplied by the clowning of a cockney cook.

Most of the action is staged on board the “Mary Celeste,” a picturesque windjammer of great beauty, while the Admiralty Court of Inquiry is a novel background for the early part of the development. Direction is adequate, although it is a moot point whether the maximum dramatic effect is obtained, or the narrative entirely without angles of obscurity.

Bela Lugosi has a part after his own heart as the bleary-eyed, one-armed Lorenzen, who stalks the decks like a sinister portent. He becomes almost awe-inspiring in the climax, when he throws Bilson to the sharks, following the victim a few minutes later, leaving the ship of death without a human soul on board. Arthur Margetson’s skipper is a virile piece of acting, if a trifle well-bred for an oilskinned husky of the deep. Shirley Grey registers appropriate terror as his doomed bride.

Cliff McLaglen plays Morehead competently, neatly suggesting the conflicting emotions of a man who sees his best friend snatch his girl just as he is about to propose himself. Supporting players include such “he-men” as Edmund Willard (a vicious Bilson), Dennis Hoey, Gibson Gowland and Gunner Moir

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Kinematograph Weekly, November 21, 1935

New Films at a Glance

TITLE AND RENTER. Mystery of Mary Celeste, The (General F.D.) – British

R.T. AND CERTIFICATE. 80 min. (A)

REMARKS. Period Mystery drama set in a nautical atmosphere. Story vague, but acting sound; technical treatment effective.

BOX-OFFICE ANGLE. Adequate serious entertainment. Unsuitable for youngsters.

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REVIEWS FOR SHOWMEN

The Mystery of the Mary Celeste

General F.D. British (A). Directed by Denison Clift.

Featuring Bela Lugosi, Shirley Grey and Arthur Margetson.

7,261 feet. Release date not fixed.

PERIOD mystery drama set in a nautical atmosphere and portrayed by players who are not lacking in essential virility. Neither the staging nor the story is too convincing – each savours strongly of the theatre – but there nevertheless rests on the grim eeriness of the play and its chilly message of foreboding, heartily delivered by the strong cast, a succession of thrills that should not fail to excite and intrigue the not too sophisticated. The picture is sound entertainment of its type, a good mass booking.

Story. - In the latter half of the year 1872 there is discovered in mid-Atlantic by Captain Morehead a large sailing craft. the Mary Celeste. The ship is fully rigged, but there is not a soul aboard. An admiralty inquiry is instituted, but it is adjourned for lack of evidence. The facts, hidden from the court by the complete disappearance of the Mary Celeste’s captain and crew, however, are these.

Anton Lorenzen, a bo’sun, shanghaied some six years before by Toby Bilson, the brutal first mate of the Mary Celeste, partly loses his reason through ill-treatment, and signs up again unrecognised for the purpose of revenge. During the voyage he sees either by accident or his own design, the captain, Briggs, Sahar (sic), Briggs’ wife; the entire crew, Bilson and finally himself, enter Davy Jones’ locker, to build up the most famous mystery of the sea.

Acting. – Bela Lugosi does not succeed in making the purpose of Anton Lorenzen too clear. His indistinct speaking voice is a handicap, but the uncanniness of the character remains to accentuate the thrills.

Edmund Willard contributes a vigorous and aggressive performance as Bilson. Gunner Moir also impresses with his virility as an important member of the crew, and Arthur Margetson and Shirley Grey are adequate as Captain and Sarah Briggs respectively. Interesting and entertaining supporting cameos come from George Mozart, Ben Weldon, Dennis Hoey, Cliff Maclaglen and Terrence de Marney.

Production. – The character of the play is such that it cannot fail entirely to impress, but it would have been much more effective dramatically had it been told with greater imagination. The retrospective treatment creates unnecessary complications, while the complete process of elimination, upon which the plot is based, soon becomes obvious at the cost of much valuable suspense.

Still, the inherent eeriness of the drama, its effective nautical atmosphere and vigorous physical interpretation manage to account for a satisfactory quota of popular thrills.

Setting and Photography. – The admiralty court sequences are staged with dignity, the waterfront scenes are true to period, while the action on the Mary Celeste is accompanied by good seascape thrills, which include realistic storm sequences. Lighting and photography are satisfactory.

Points of Appeal. – Unusual story, good dramatic sequences, vigorous team work and accurate character-drawing, compelling thrills, and realistic atmosphere.

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Rear cover of American pressbook

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Variety, December 11, 1935

Only one woman in the cast, with a bunch of well selected two-fisted men.

Story is laid in 1872, when crews were shanghaied. Sailing ship Mary Celeste is floating in the vicinity of Gibraltar with not a soul on board. Captain Morehead, of another vessel, boards her, tows her into port, and claims salvage. Picture opens with Morehead’s suit before the Admiralty court for salvage money, then switches to the events preceding the legal action, and finishing with a return to the court.

Central portion of the film shows every one of the members of the crew, including the captain’s wife, meeting with violent death, until only one member is left. He goes crazy and flings himself into the sea.

It is all the result of Captain Morehead’s machinations, who salvages the ship. He and the Celeste captain had been friends, but when the other man wins the girl and marries her, Morehead plots dire vengeance.

Shirley Grey does all that is expected in the role of the wife. A virile hefty bunch of men have been chosen for the crew, with the exception of George Mozart for comedy relief. He is a little chap, shanghaied as a cook, and knowing absolutely nothing about culinary art.

Outstanding role is played by Bela Lugosi as a seaman who had sailed in the boat six years previously and had been thrashed until he is a mental and physical wreck. When the opportunity arises for him to ship once more with the vessel under the same first mate who maltreated him he accepts the job. He has altered so thoroughly that he isn’t recognized, and signs on bent on revenge.

Another vaudevillian is Edgar Pierce, of Pierce and Roslyn. All the men are sufficiently forceful, with the possible exception of Arthur Margetson, as the captain of the Celeste. Ship is an American one and Margetson speaks with an accent bordering on the Oxonian.

Illusion of the vessel at sea is excellent, barring the cabin scenes. Despite terrific storms, the cabin does not sway one bit. Good direction throughout, but morbid and unsatisfactory story.

Very strong stuff for those who like tragic entertainment.

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Sydney Morning Herald, March 18, 1936

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Townsville Daily Bulletin (Australia) July 18, 1936

SEEING STARS WITH HIGHFIELD

A Touch of White is preferred

SHIRLEY GREY

featured in “The Mystery of the Mary Celeste”

White is always chic as a finish to a winter costume, and here we see Shirley Grey, the star of “The Mystery of the Mary Celeste” suiting her blonde charm to perfection with a Puritan collar of fine white pique, which is finished with a tailored bow and small white buttons fashioned also of pique. The simple coiffure is also in good taste with the Puritan effect and it features the long bob softly waved from the face.

There’s no mystery about the popularity of Highfield Tea. The one and only reason for its success is its consistently good and delightfully refreshing Ceylon flavour. Highfield Tea, whether Red Label or Green Label will appeal to you no matter which other tea you’ve previously used. Ask for -

HIGHFIELD THE TEA OF GOOD TASTE

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The Mercury (Australia), October 8, 1936

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Examiner (Australia), October 15, 1936

Princess Cinema

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Townsville Daily Bulletin (Australia), June 23, 1937

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Townsville Daily Bulletin, September 27, 1937

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Torrance Herald (California), March 9, 1939

Midnight Horror Show at Gadena

At the hour when all unearthly things have their fling, the bewitching hour of midnight, Saturday, the new Gardena theatre will present its special showing of Boris Karloff in “Son of Frankenstein” and Bela Lugosi in “The Phantom Ship.”

One of the most horrorific combinations to hit local screens is this spine-tingling, hair-raising pair of gripping melodramas. To make the special show more effective, the management of the Gardena theatre plans to open the box-office at 11p.m., Saturday night so that the ghosts may walk promptly at midnight.

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The Daily Times, February 4, 1946

Majestic Theatre

Until you have sat and shivered in delightful terror through the fascinating, blood-chilling reels of “Phantom Ship,” you can’t realize to what heights of trgic intensity a marine adventure yarn with a background of terrific mystery can rise. The picture opens tonight at the Majestic. Founded on the historically famous episode of the brigantine “Mary Celeste,” picked up derelict in 1872 in mid-Atlantic, the story gives a solution of this weird ocean problem of over half a century ago, that for hair-trigger suspense, crashing action, morbid thrills and pathetic romance has seldom been equalled, and never excelled on the screen,.

The cast is headed by Bela Lugosi, that master of horror-art, who, as a half-crazed sailor with a homicidal complex, gives a performance that sheds a compelling spell of nerve-straining suspense upon the spectators. Those who know what Lugosi can do with a role of this kind, and who among the far-flung army of movie-fans does not know, may rest assured, if they have not already seen the film, that his portrayal of the madman, Anton Lorenzen, is destined to resiger as one of his greatest contributions to motion-picture entertainment.

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Tilly Day’s photo album

Tilly Day 1903 – 1994

Born in 1903, Tilly Day worked on over 300 British films during her long career. She joined the film industry as a secretary at the Wood Street Film Studio in Walthamstow in 1917 at the age of 14 after secretly answering an advertisement in the local newspaper. Despite their initial disapproval, her parents relented and allowed Tilly to accept the position, knowing full well that once Tilly had set her mind on something it was pointless trying to dissuade her.

The studio specialized in making commercials for household goods such as dog biscuits, toilet soap and hand cream. Tilly’s secretarial duties soon expanded and included everything from being a hand model in commercials, assisting the cameramen with trick photography, and continuity, which became the role with which she is most associated. After the Wood Street Film Studio went out of business, she worked for several film companies including the Stoll Film Company, Twickenham Studios, Rank and, most famously, Hammer Studios.

Tilly didn’t receive her first screen credit until 1935, when she work as continuity girl on Hammer’s Mystery of the Mary Celeste. During the location filming off the coast of Falmouth Tilly and her colleagues took a set of remarkable photographs which have rarely been seen. The photographs show the crew at work and rest aboard both the famous “Q” ship Mary B Mitchell, which stood in for the Mary Celeste, and the smaller Archibald Russell, which was used for offshore distance filming of the Mary B Mitchell and for the a brief cameo appearance as another ship in the film, the Dei Gratia. The captions accompanying the photographs are Tilly’s. Please contact us if you can identify any of the crew members in the photographs.

“Basil, Tilly and Ian”

“Couchie in Character”

Director Denison Clift

“Lining up a shot”

(foreground: Tilly, center: Denison Clift)

“Merry moments”

(Tilly at the helm)

“Misty moments with some of the technicians “

“More of the boys”

J Elder Wills (centre with moustache)?

“Paddy, one of the crew”

“Some of the technical staff”

(left rear: Cinematographer Eric Cross)

“Still at sea”

“The Skipper and Jack Gilling – He had to love us and leave us!!”

“Tilly aboard and in character”

Tilly and Cinematographer Eric Cross

“Tilly and Ian”

“Homeward bound with musical accompaniment”

In 1985 Tilly was interviewed by Ton Paans and Colin Cowie for the magazine Little Shoppe of Horrors. During the interview she talked briefly about Bela Lugosi and other members of the cast.

“To Tilly in remembrance, Bela Lugosi”

“I’ll always remember Bela Lugosi walking down Walton-on-Thames’ Hearst Road, and everybody’d whisper, “Look, there he comes!”, and he’d look absolutely dead-flat, totally immobile, nothing in his face! He was very tall, about 6ft 6, and somehow a rather terrifying man. He was always nice to me, though. He called me “The English Rose” and once made a pass at me. Although his English wasn’t particularly good, it wasn’t quite as bad as they say. He’d ask me to read his lines so that he could more or less copy the pronunciation, and he was really quite good at that. He was never inunderstandable.”

“To Tilly in remembrance, Bela Lugosi”

“In those days you’d work seven days a week if necessary, and no extra pay! One Sunday, after shooting, we had a great picnic on the Thames. Most of the cast were there, including co-stars Arthur Margetson, Shirley Grey and Jim Wills (Art Director J. Elder Wills). Now, Jim was terribly in love with Shirley, and had brought a huge wicker basket with food and champagne for them to share on his little boat on the river. Then he saw another boat pass him by on the Thames, and Shirley was on it with Arthur Margetson! He was absolutely furious and, screaming at the top of his voice, flung his basket into the Thames! We all felt sorry for him. Shirley and Arthur got married, eventually; his fourth and her third marriage.”

“Bela and Lillian Lugosi”

Bela Lugosi and his wife Lillian did not attend the picnic. When I asked Mystery of the Mary Celeste cinematographer Eric Cross about Tilly and the incident during the picnic, he said, “She and I worked on many films and I very much regret that I was going to see her and looked up her address in Wembley, near the Town Hall, and never made it – Dear Tilly, always smiling – ‘The road to Hell is paved with good intentions’. I didn’t attend the picnic. J. Elder Wills was a great friend of mine from way back at B.I.P. Elstree. He was a most versatile man – could draw with both hands at once, and a great mimic. I can’t imagine him screaming at anyone, very unlike him. I once stole his girlfriend at Wembley and no ‘screaming’ ensued – but he was upset – and we remained friends and when he directed Sporting Love (Hammer, 1936), Song of Freedom (Hammer, 1936) Paul Robson, etc, he always chose me to photograph.”

“Burial at sea”

Foreground: Bela, Shirley Grey, Edmund Willard, Arthur Margetson, George Mozart

Coffin bearers: Ben Walden (back to camera), Edgar Pierce, Gibson Gowland, Johnnie Schofield (Back to camera)

Tilly Day retired from the film industry at the age of 72. Her final film was the 1975 Walt Disney produced British comedy One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing. She died in 1994 at the age of 91.

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Limelight by George Mozart

George Mozart 1864 -1947

Born David John Gillings in Great Yarmouth on February 15, 1864, the music hall star George Mozart began his career at the age of nine when, for a shilling a night, he played the side drum at the Theatre Royal in his home town. Although he temporarily left the theatrical world to become a drummer in the Norfolk Artillery Band, he had been bitten by the theatrical bug and soon returned to the stage. Taking on any job that he could find, he played drums in a stage orchestra while learning how to paint scenery and act in stock.

He made the move into music hall as a Christy Minstrel and toured all around the country. After another break from the theatre, during which he unsuccessfully tried his hand at running a pub, Mozart established himself as one of the top British music hall comedians. During a long career, which took him to America, Canada and Australia, he worked with all of the great music hall stars of his age.

Although he was featured in a British Pathe newsreel with the famous male impersonator Hetty King in around 1917, George didn’t begin to carve out a career in moving pictures until 1928 when he starred in the self-penned short Mr. George Mozart the Famous Comedian. During the 1930s he appeared in two more short features and 15 full-length films, including the first five films by Hammer Productions – The Public Life of Henry the Ninth, Polly’s Two Fathers, The Bank Messenger Mystery, Mystery of the Mary Celeste, and Song of Freedom. His prolific appearances in the early Hammer films was, no doubt, linked to the fact that he was a member of the board of directors.

In 1938, at the age of seventy-four, he published Limelight (Hurst & Blackett, Ltd., London), his wittily self-depreciating autobiography. A review in the June 12, 1938 edition of the Straight Times said of his memoirs, “These delightful memories are distinguished by their kindly humour and vivid sense of comedy. Although many of the stories are extremely funny, even ribald, there is not an unkind one among the lot – a grand tribute to George Mozart’s own sense of humour.”

George died in London on December 10, 1947 at the age of 83.

In Chapter 32 of Limelight, George recounted two incidents which took place during the filming of Mystery of the Mary Celeste. The first tells the story of a ”young man” in love with Shirley Grey, the film’s leading lady. The same incident was recalled many years later by Tilly Day, the film’s continuity girl, who revealed that the “young man” was J. Elder Wills, the art director of Mystery of the Mary Celeste. Georges’s memories of the film are reproduced in full below.

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George as ship’s cook Tommy Duggan

“I once played the cook in a picture called The Mystery of the ‘Mary Celeste.’ It was a marvellous story but did not seem to catch on, I don’t know why. But I would like to tell of a romance that occurred during the making of the picture. The story is quite as romantic as any that have occurred at Hollywood.

Shirley Grey came from America to play the only woman part in the picture. She is a beautiful girl and a great actress.

Two young men of the production company met her at Waterloo and gave her a great reception, but one of the two fell in love with her at first sight, and she seemed to like him. We all thought that a marriage would take place, but it was not to be. On location at Falmouth, Shirley had to board a windjammer in Falmouth harbour at eight every morning and sail out to sea for miles all day.

Shirley, being the only lady on board, and a very pretty one at that, had great attention from all the men.

But Shirley was most of the day in her cabin, according to the film story, and only came on deck when required.

We were quite three weeks on board, and Shirley and her beau did not see much of each other.

“Our young man” – J. Elder Wills

Our lead was Bela Lugosi, and the man playing the part of the captain was Arthur Margetson. Shirley was playing the part of his wife.

We eventually finished on the ship and went to the studios at Walton-on-Thames to do the interiors.

Then things started to develop. It was August and wonderfully hot, and on Sundays, being near the river, everybody took advantage of it.

Our young man who was in love with Shirley invited her to go on the river. So he hired a launch and as lovely repast, not forgetting the champagne; in fact, everything one could do to give his adored one a good time.

Sunday morning arrived, and the young man turned up in spotless flannels. He waited half an hour, but no lady turned up.

An hour passed, and still no sign of her. Then a member of the studio staff came along and said he had seen Shirley Grey and Arthur Margetson together in a punt a mile down the river.

The young man got very annoyed and threw all the food into the river, but I don’t think somehow he did the same with the wine.

Shirley Grey and Arthur Margetson indulging in “real love-making ” before the camera

The scenes taken in the studio were supposed to be when the captain (Arthur) was proposing to the future Mrs. Biggs (Shirley), and they had to act a beautiful love scene.

We all thought what good acting it was, how natural and how well they acted together.

All the time it was real love-making and real proposing.

No wonder Shirley didn’t turn up that Sunday. Arthur took care of that – and now they are Mr. And Mrs. Arthur Margetson.

A portrait of Bela from Limelight

We came to Walton-on-Thames studios to finish our picture, The Mystery of the ‘Mary Celeste’. Bela Lugosi was our star, and a very nice man I found him, a charming chap, though he played an awful creature in the story.

He is a native of Hungary and his English off the screen is certainly not good; he makes up for that by his clever acting and delightful manners. He is also a great fellow to go out with. We gave him a great time – a reception at the Grosvenor on his arrival from Hollywood and a great send-off on the platform at Waterloo station.

We had a full-size ship built up in a field at Walton, exactly like the one we were on at sea. The shots had to be taken in the middle of the night. Huge lamps, etc. The ship was built to rock, and groups of stage hands were stationed each side to give her a good rocking when the storm was at its height. Huge tanks full of hundreds of gallons of water were on very high platforms, ready to pour over the ship; compressed air in tubes ready to blow her nearly over; in fact, it was a wonderful set, costing no end of money. We started shooting about half past one in the morning. Half the inhabitants of the village turned out to watch – great excitement.

Lugosi was a mysterious seaman, made up with only one arm. He had to be washed overboard – a large beam struck him dead on the deck, then one of the water tanks was turned on, and down came the water in hundreds of gallons and washed him clean over the side of the ship – so the shot would fit in with what had already been done off Falmouth on the real ship. We all got the wind up when we saw all that water drenching Bela like a rat, because we knew our turn was the next shot. And we were told by the director Denison Clift, that all the tanks of water were going to be let loose. The storm was going to be at its worst; of course, Lugosi was not in it. He had done his bit and had rushed across the field wet to the skin, to the studios to get changed.

Bela and Lillian Lugosi on location with director Denison Clift

Our director got a bit nervous about me. He considered my age and was afraid I would catch cold. I assured him I did not mind and I was quite in trim to take whatever was coming – just as good as any of the young ‘uns.

All was ready for the great storm; a hundred stage hands were standing by in their places. Three cameramen ready, one up in the mast, and so on – all of us waiting for the director to give the word “Action!” and blow a loud whistle. But something kept going wrong – and it would not do to chance anything – everything must work to the arrangements, otherwise it would cost no end of money to have a re-take, and that would mean another all-night’s work.

So we rehearsed our lines and actions while waiting. I was playing the old ship’s cook, a Cockney, and my colleague, Johnny Schofield, as an Irish seaman. We were ordered to the wheel, one each side, holding on like grim death; the mighty seas (I beg pardon, tanks) tossing us up and down. I remember our dialogue; as he came up and I went down he said: “Holy Saints, save us!” and I had to shout through the noise of the storm: “No good, mate – they can’t hear you.

Just as we were going to shoot, dear old Lugosi turned up already changed. He climbed on the ship, and in the dim light I could see he had a bottle of Black and White in each hand. He got to know Jimmy and I were going to get the full blast of the water from three tanks, to depict a mighty wave washing over the ship. He held the two bottles of whisky up so Johnny and I could see them and shouted in his broken English: “Stick it, boys, be brave, and when you come out one each for you. It’s good, I know, I’ve had some.” A loud voice through the loudspeaker was heard: “Off the ship, Bela, you’re dead. You’ll be in the shot in less than a minute. We’re going to shoot. Stand by, everybody – now don’t lose your heads – now everybody ready – the whistle will blow first, then a short pause – look out, Action!”

Johnny Schofield as Peter Tooley

The next moment I was up to my neck in water, the ship rocked from side to side, the water rushing all round me. Down it came again, another tank let loose. It knocked me on the wheel – a nasty knock on the head, but my bowler hat saved me. Down she came again, more water than ever – a terrific ‘wave’ right over our heads. It knocked Johnny Schofield over. He entirely disappeared somewhere – the shot was over. A great success. Johnny turned up from nowhere; so did Bela Lugosi with the whisky. He was terribly upset about me; needless to say, I was wet, soaked through. The dear chap had a large blanket, which he quickly wrapped round me, and actually carried me half across the field towards the dressing-room in the studio.

I was stripped of everything like greased lightning. My dresser brought another dry blanket and clothes, and Lugosi made me drink half a bottle of whisky – almost neat. Now I never could stand much drink before it got to my head, so one can imagine how I felt.

Now I played hornpipes on the violin in one of the scenes in the picture; they are not easy to play. When one is out of practice they are extremely difficult! Anyway, I was proud of the fact that I could play a certain hornpipe tune pretty well. Well, I had nothing on, only a blanket round me, under that I was as naked as when I was born. Lugosi insisted I should lie down on a couch for a few minutes before dressing while they fetched the car, and he made me drink the rest of the whisky. And I was left alone.

When they came back they found me stark naked, playing my hornpipe on the fiddle and dancing at the same time. Boy! That whisky was some whisky, but it did me good.

Bela in the dramatic storm scene

Arthur Margetson was also wet through. He played Captain Briggs, and went through it as much as anybody, except he was artful and did a bit of dodging. There was also a bottle of whisky for him and he got the wind up – and the whisky had to suffer for it.

We both stayed at the same hotel at Shepperton a short distance away. He drove me back in his care. How he did it I don’t know – I can’t tell even to this day.

The next morning everyone turned up, as fresh as paint, and no one suffered the slightest ill effects. A good night’s work. If any of my readers have seen the picture I feel
certain they will acknowledge it was most realistic, and one of the best storm scenes ever seen on the screen.

Personally I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

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American screen title

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American posters

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American lobby cards

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Mexican reissue lobby card

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Townsville Daily Bulletin, September 27, 1937

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Vampire Over London: Bela Lugosi In Britain