The Wreck of the Mary Deare

The Wreck of the Mary Deare is a 1959 Metrocolor British-American thriller film directed by Michael Anderson and starring Gary Cooper, Charlton Heston, Michael Redgrave, Cecil Parker, Richard Harris and John Le Mesurier, based upon the novel by Hammond Innes. A merchant marine captain, Gideon Patch decides to stay aboard a sinking ship, in order to prove that it was sabotaged to collect insurance on cargo that had secretly been off-loaded at Rangoon. The novel was optioned by MGM with the intention of having Alfred Hitchcock direct and Cooper star. Hitchcock had long wanted to work with... Cooper, but after developing the script with Ernest Lehman for several weeks, they concluded that it couldn't be done without turning the movie into "a boring courtroom drama." They abandoned the idea and started a new story which eventually became North by Northwest. The task of adapting the novel then passed to Eric Ambler. Another noted British director, Michael Anderson of The Dam Busters fame, took over for Hitchcock. The cast included Cooper as Patch, and Charlton Heston as Sands, with Richard Harris and Michael Redgrave in supporting roles.
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