One hundred fifty-three years ago today the brigantine Mary Celeste was discovered abandoned off the Azores. She was in seaworthy condition, under partial sail, with her lifeboat missing. Her provisions remained ample, her cargo intact, the personal property of the captain and crew undisturbed, No trace of any of the ship's personnel was ever found. The mystery caught the imagination of the public and stories and theories of what had happened abounded. Arthur Conan Doyle was one who fictionized the incident in his story "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement," but named the vessel the Marie Celeste; over the years that spelling took hold and it is by that name that most persons now call the mystery ship.
To mark this anniversary, I thought it would be interesting to see how Suspense, that most venerable of old-time radio thrillers, handled the legend. [Note, however, that the program got the date wrong, claiming the abandoned ship was discovered on December 9, rather than on December 4.]
This episode was directed by Elliott Lewis and scripted by Gil Dowd. Van Heflin starred, backed by Joseph Kearns, Jeannette Nolan, Paul Frees, Dan Herlihy, Hal Gerard, and William Conrad.
Enjoy this episode...and wonder what really happened.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX6e5DQJMUg
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