The Wreck of the Hesperus (1948)

By CinemaSerf

Willard Parker is a little bit wooden here as former sea captain "John Macready", who runs a salvage business with his partner "George Lockhart" (Edgar Buchanan) in a coastal Maine town. One night, after a particularly violent Atlantic storm, he becomes aware that a recently wrecked ship might have been done so deliberately - and that his partner might be implicated. The challenge is, how can he prove this without looking equally guilty himself, and get the Governor (Boyd Davis) to get the State to erect a lighthouse to warn other ships of the dangers? Director John Hoffman has made quite a decent fist of this "Jamaica Inn" style version of Longfellow's famous poem, with good sound and storm effects to complement the adequate performances on screen and he keeps the story jogging along nicely until a, sadly, rather rushed ending. Still, it's a decent action feature that highlights some of the true dangers of 19th century seafaring that is well worth 75 minutes on a weekend afternoon...