John Sands (Charlton Heston) is the captain of a small boat in the English Channel. He finds the freighter Mary Deare adrift and seemingly abandoned by her crew. He expects huge salvage rights until he comes across the ship's First Officer Gideon Patch (Gary Cooper) who is still on board. The captain died 4 days earlier. Patch took over command and now refuses to abandon ship.
The mystery is pretty interesting. One does notice that the ship interior does not sway that much. I can understand that too many swaying for a long time could be very nauseating to the audience but it doesn't seem right as the storm rages outside. They should be walking on a rollercoaster. The heart of the movie is essentially a two person play. This is a good pair to try but then the movie goes past it. This should be a great Hitchcockian thriller of two iconic stars in an isolated location. The mystery must be solved while the duo is still on board. I can see Sands' mate joining them when the tiny boat gets overwhelmed by the storm. So at most, this is maybe three characters in a stormy sea. That screams Hitchcock. The potential is endless but it becomes a rather dull courtroom drama in the end. By that time, the secret is well guessed at and it doesn't really matter anyways. Also, I don't understand Sands' motives or why he's helping Patch.
The mystery is pretty interesting. One does notice that the ship interior does not sway that much. I can understand that too many swaying for a long time could be very nauseating to the audience but it doesn't seem right as the storm rages outside. They should be walking on a rollercoaster. The heart of the movie is essentially a two person play. This is a good pair to try but then the movie goes past it. This should be a great Hitchcockian thriller of two iconic stars in an isolated location. The mystery must be solved while the duo is still on board. I can see Sands' mate joining them when the tiny boat gets overwhelmed by the storm. So at most, this is maybe three characters in a stormy sea. That screams Hitchcock. The potential is endless but it becomes a rather dull courtroom drama in the end. By that time, the secret is well guessed at and it doesn't really matter anyways. Also, I don't understand Sands' motives or why he's helping Patch.