The Isle of Dead Ships - A Tale of the Sargasso Sea by Crittenden Marriott
I guess that if you categorize this novel as a "lost world" story then it qualifies as part of that science fiction sub-genre. (The premise does not seem to be based on fantasy.)
The Sargasso Sea overlaps but does not coincide with the Bermuda Triangle. Marriott's story supposes an isle of lost sea vessels stranded and bound together by the abundantly thick seaweed of the area.
I found the first half of Marriott's story full of nice touches of suspense and eeriness.
Frank Howard, convicted but innocent of murder, is being returned to the United States by police officer Jackson aboard the ship "The Queen". Howard had escaped to Porto Rico (that's how they spelled it) in order to locate witnesses for his defense. It seems the one man willing to testify at his trial in his behalf had been lost at sea in transit. On board also is the lovely Dorothy Fairfax.
SPOILERS
The ship meets with a sea storm and the ship is abandoned except for these three. Tensions mount as Howard believes their best recourse is to enter further into the Sargasso Sea, find the legendary Isle of Lost Ships and find a means of escape from there.
Once they do, the tale turns to more of a two-fisted action-adventure yarn. Howard battles it out with one Captain Forbes, the head of the band of ship-wrecked castaways for Dorothy's honor. Along the way, he wins her hand and Jackson's trust. In a bit of a stretch, a recent member of Forbes' colony turns out to be Howard's star witness. Finally, they escape in a still-operable abandoned submarine.
The elements are all there for a silent-era thriller. First National Pictures must have thought so. They made the film in 1923 and then again in 1929; both were titled "The Isle of Lost Ships". The first version (a lost film) was directed by Maurice Tourneur (father of Jacques Tourneur) and is generally considered the better filmed of the two. However, the 1929 film (of which at least parts are extant) had a more well-known cast featuring Jason Robards, Sr. and Noah Berry as Howard and Forbes respectively. (Oddly, the 1929 version was made as both a silent and sound film...I am not sure which still exists).
written: 1/24/2002
