The Mystery of the Mary Celeste

The Mystery of the Mary Celeste
Directed byDenison Clift
Screenplay byCharles Larkworthy (Scenario)
Story byDenison Clift
Produced byHenry Passmore
StarringBéla Lugosi
Arthur Margetson
Shirley Grey
Edmund Willard
George Mozart
Dennis Hoey
Cinematography
Edited byJohn Seabourne
Production
company
Distributed byGeneral Film Distributors
Release dates
  • 27 April 1936 (1936-04-27)
(UK)
Feb. 15, 1937(US)
Running time
80 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£80,000

The Mystery of the Mary Celeste (U.S. title: The Phantom Ship) is a 1935 British mystery film directed by Denison Clift and starring Béla Lugosi, Shirley Grey and Arthur Margetson. It was written by Clift and Charles Larkworthy and was the second feature film from Hammer Film Productions.

It is based on the story of the Mary Celeste, a sailing ship that was found adrift and deserted in the Atlantic Ocean in 1872, and is an imagined explanation of the disappearance of the crew and passengers.

The version released in the United States, under the title Phantom Ship, is about eighteen minutes shorter than the original. It omits the original opening and closing sequences set in a maritime courtroom, which detail an investigation into what happened. It is believed that only the shortened US version survives.