This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Errol Flynn dives for sunken treasure in "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" director Gordon Douglas' "Mara Maru," with Ruth Roman, Raymond Burr, and Paul Picerni. This black & white yarn about avarice on high seas is predictable fare, but a top-notch cast, Gordon Douglas' assured direction, and some good underwater diving scene keep it afloat. Like the character that he plays, Errol Flynn was on his way down by the time that he cast in this adequate potboiler. Director Gordon Douglas doesn't let the action get water-logged for a moment, and "Mara Maru" is an entertaining epic even though it doesn't have any major surprises in it. Raymond Burr is perfectly cast as a villain with smooth edges who displays no qualms about cheating his partners as they set out to find a jewel encrusted cross. Picerni is just as oily as another villain who has a difficult time deciding whose side—either Burr or Flynn—that he wants to support. Virile Richard Webb gives a good account of himself as Flynn's former partner who winds up murdered before the first 30 minutes elapses. Another familiar face in this sturdy saga is Dan Seymour who plays a local cop in Manilla who wants to pin a murder on the intractable Flynn. Flynn fans will have a ball with this one. Of course, a capable stunt man probably wore the helmet and suit for the deep sea diving scenes, but Douglas does a good job of inserting close-ups of Flynn in the helmet into the action.

In 1952, Errol Flynn still looked passably good. He was one of the handsomest men in the movies, after all, and though he was an alcoholic, his face hadn't been completely destroyed yet. And he was trim. In the earlier "Cry Wolf" he was quite bloated.The story concerns a salvage diver working in the Philippines, Gregory Mason, who finds his partner Callahan (Richard Webb) drunk in a bar and talking about treasure. Later he's found dead, and Mason is accused.A private detective is able to clear him of the murder. Mason is hired by a man named Brock Benedict (Raymond Burr) to find a briefcase lost during a voyage. It supposedly contains diamonds. The late Callahan knew where the ship went down.Mason takes the job, but is warned by another salvager not to work with Benedict, but with him instead. Mason ignores him. To his surprise, Callahan's widow Stella (Ruth Roman) who is in love with Mason, and vice versa, is on the salvage voyage as well.Stella is certain that Benedict, once he gets the briefcase, is going to kill Mason. She urges him to end the voyage by saying a typhoon is coming and it can't be risked. Mason refuses and says he can take care of himself.Mason is later faced with a moral dilemma.Some exciting scenes. One rather annoying thing was that Flynn wore this helmet-like thing over his head, and he looked out at the ocean through a window built into it. Well, they used the same shot of him looking into the sea through the window over and over, and it was obviously the same shot. I don't know much about deep sea diving, but what he was wearing looked like a heavy suit of armor. I would think that would work against you.All the actors were up to the task, Burr always playing an effective villain in those days; and Flynn gives a strong performance, as does Ruth Roman.Ben Mankiewicz described Flynn as one of the most popular stars in the world, which is true, but he wasn't there as long as many of his contemporaries. By the late '40s Warners was giving him lower budget, black and white films, with the exception of That Forsyte Woman. He had a good ten years.TCM, in an effort to make it seem as if the stars at MGM, RKO, and Warners were the true stars and the people at 20th Century Fox, etc. did some acting on the side, won't tell you that Flynn does not appear in the top 200 box office stars of all time. Still, it was a wonderful career for a handsome, athletic actor of great charm.Maru Maru is entertaining and pretty good.

I don't know if this is true or not,but I am told that when this movie came out, the distributors took it to Tokyo to show, because by that time there was a fairly large demand for American movies in Japan...particularly action movies, and even more so those which featured well known stars like Errol Flynn, and were confident that it would be well received and quite profitable...but that even though the movie was given wide advertising and multiple screens all over Japan,nobody came to see it due to the fact that "Mara Maru" translates into Japanese as "Sh*t Boat"....and who in their right mind would want to see a movie with the title "Sh*t Boat"??

Errol Flynn plays "Mason" co-owner of a salvage operstion based in Manila.His partner ,Callahan ,is a drunk who claims that he has the key to a fortune in lost diamonds ,sunk on board a vessel fleeing Manila before the Japanese occupation.When he is murdered suspicion falls on Mason especially when it becomes clear there is a mutual attraction between him and Callahan's widow (Ruth Roman ).Cleared of murder by the testimony of a private eye ,Ranier (well played by Paul Picerni)he is hired by the wealthy Benedict (Raymond Burr )to track down the treasure. The scene is set for betrayal ,shipwreck and a lively climax in the catacombs under Manila Cathedral. The movie sags a little in the underwater scenes which are murky and uninvolving but overall its a lively if minor thriller albeit one in which the ravages of the star's off screen debauchery are reflected in Flynn's appearance and slightly weary performance.Burr is admirable as the heavy and Roman is fine like most of the cast while the Max Steiner score is a big bonus.Good time passer but a long way from the stars glory days.