Moby Dick

Although this film does suffer from Warner Bros. attempt to sex up the story from Melville's meditative original, it has some interesting original qualities all its own. First, it looks great. The rich details of the port, seedy taverns and docks lent a realism which was a delight to behold in itself. Second, Ahab is merely a harpoonist first class(or whatever they were called) at the beginning of the story, rather than captain. I wasn't sure where he got the funds to buy the old whaling vessel, but he transforms himself into the Ahab of the book--an interesting character arc of its own. I would never have envisioned Ahab as the care-free rascal engaging in crow's nest acrobatics as he does in this movie, but it serves as a contrast to the bitter, obsessed tyrant he becomes later on. His final triumph over Moby Dick and return to his sweetheart make for typical Hollywood pablum, but what's new, even after 70-odd years? In addition, much of the story is so land-locked, I was getting antsy for them to get to sea and get it on with MD.

This film & it's silent predecessor, "The Sea Beast"(1926), both starred John Barrymore. Some have said while the films' took liberties with Melville's text, the visualizations were superb on these two films, particularly the silent version. In fact John Barrymore created the very personification of Captain Ahab and to many was more of what Melville envisioned than Gregory Peck's fine but (Lincolnesque) Ahab 26 years later. The success of "The Sea Beast" was a huge hit for Warner Brothers in 1926 and when talkies arrived they, like other Hollywood studios ie MGM, carted out recent previous silent successes for sound remake. Douglas Fairbanks Jr once said that between "The Sea Beast" & "Moby Dick", that "The Sea Beast" was the superior movie and that he had seen it numerous times. Audiences agreed with Fairbanks Jr at the box office and this made the silent version of the Melville story, butchered though it may be, a likely candidate for an early talkie remake. Barrymore is obviously older in the talkie after having been more svelte in the silent The Sea Beast. His face is now beginning to take on it's 1930s jowlish appearance due to the effect of his continuing alcoholism. He had recently been very ill after a cruise with wife Dolores(who costarred in The Sea Beast)on their yacht. This film offers Barrymore an opportunity to use his marvelous voice to impart the character of Ahab but denies him the opportunity to get to do some really outlandish 'mad-man' makeup as he had done in "The Sea Beast" and other silent films lke "Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde". The Moby Dick prop used in this remake is superior and way more convincing than in the silent film. But it's still not on a par with John Hustons 1956 whale prop filmed in believable muted colors.

Since this is a rearranging or reinventing of what Melville intended it would be fun to speculate if he would get a chuckle out of showing Ahab as a young man with both legs intact as well as having a female love interest. Purists don't like this tampering of Melville text but 1920s audiences were either ignorant or just didn't seem to mind good storytelling through the medium of motion pictures. Thus the part of Moby Dick concerning Ahab's dallying as a young man and his love for this girl Esther is enough to fill a prequel book or movie leading up to the famous encounter with the Great White Whale. The last part of the movie after they kill Moby Dick and Ahab lives and arrives back home to Esther is a far fetched sequel story in itself. I think Melville & everybody would disagree with the fact that Ahab lives but it would still be enough for a separate story and possibly leaving enough future story open for Ahab to perhaps hunt down and kill 'the son of Moby Dick'. In this age of Sequels & Prequels we live in , a surviving Ahab killing Moby's son is not pablum but perhaps just good fantasy story telling.

I saw this one on TNT several years ago. It's a pre-code Hollywood version of the novel which has little or nothing to do with the book. Barrymore plays Ahab who, as the film begins, has both his legs. After a gory meeting with Moby Dick in which he has his leg bloodily chewed off, Ahab returns to New Bedford where he meets the scorn of his fiancee because of his wooden prosthesis. Vowing revenge, he returns to sea, kills Moby Dick, & (I kid you not) gets the girl.

The film is ridiculous with the story completely re-written & Barrymore as a good-natured, capering Ahab. But at this late date it does provide some silly fun & a good view of how Hollywood can (& still does) ruin great literature.

I think it's worth a look--I wish I had taped it.

This is a remake of the 1926 film THE SEA BEAST. John Barrymore stars in both of them. The movie is actually based on a stage play which explains a great deal about why the plot was changed so, dare I say it?, dramatically. Herman Melville contributed the title and a studio scriptwriter added everything else.

48 year old Barrymore plays 20-something Ahab Seeley, a happy go lucky sailor who is also a hard drinking woman chaser. We first see him doing acrobatic stunts from the crows nest of a ship (John is doubled by action film star Richard Talmadge). Ahab also has a brother named Derek (Lloyd Hughes) who stays on land and works in the local church. Plot complication 1: Ahab and Derek both fall for the same girl, the ministers daughter Faith (Joan Bennett). She rejects dull brother Derek for the more adventurous Ahab. ("But I'll always be putting out to sea." he says. "And I'll always be waiting for you." she says. Isn't love wonderful?)

Plot complication 2: On his next voyage Ahab gets his leg bitten off by (wait for it) a giant white whale named Moby Dick. At least they used something from the novel! Plot complication 3: When Faith Mapple sees Ahab with his peg leg she screams and runs off. This drives Ahab insane and he swears vengeance on the white whale.

Years pass and Moby continues to elude Ahab. He buys his own boat and becomes a skipper even more hated than Captain Bligh. His crew jumps ship leaving only his brutal First Mate Stubbs (Walter Long) and Ahab's only true friend Queequeg (Noble Johnson). Stubbs visits bars and brothels to shanghai a crew and accidentally grabs Derek Seeley who apparently has been drinking his troubles away since Faith rejected him (hmmm, should I make that plot complication 4? Oh never mind). During a storm at sea Derek tries to kill his brother but loyal Queequeg breaks his back. Oh and what about Moby Dick? Don't worry we haven't forgotten him; he finally shows up again so we can tie up all these loose ends. What happens? I won't spoil it for you; this movie runs now and then on TCM so you can "sea" for yourself (bad pun, I admit it).

John Barrymore overacts but what else is new? He loved his "mad" scenes and this time he gets to be looney for half the picture. After he goes insane his character begins to resemble Mr. Hyde, whom he played 10 years earlier. He even seems to be trying to re-create the Hyde character by stomping around the deck in a top hat and flowing cloak.

Noble Johnson is surprisingly good as Queequeg. He is constantly beating a drum to placate the sea gods and he is fiercely loyal to his captain. (When this movie was remade in 1956 German actor Friedrich Ledebur played the role and the character was expanded even more.) Lloyd Hughes is best remembered (by me anyway) for the 1925 version of THE LOST WORLD where he played reporter Ed Malone. Joan Bennett had a long career in movies and TV and is probably best remembered now for the terror/soap opera "Dark Shadows". Watch for silent film actor Nigel de Brulier as Elijah, the mad "prophet" who predicts trouble for Ahab early in the film.

I like this movie, now I wish I could see that 1926 version. Anyone know if it still exists?

John Barrymore can act. His performance as Captain Ahab is the best I've ever seen. That might not be saying much because the novel "Moby Dick" despite being as popular as it is has only been brought to the screen four times and the first two, this version being the latter of the two are based on a stage play adaptation "The Sea Beast." This movie adds a love interest to the proceedings and changes and alters the ending and character relationships. Is it blasphemy? All I can say if you do not know the plot of Moby Dick and just recognize it as most people do as a story about a man chasing a whale, you'll love this version. Heck, I know the story and I loved it. I think it is much better than the more faithful Huston-Peck version or TNT-Patrick Stewart version. First for a 1930 version, it has aged well. The special effects including the sea sequences are better than some movies made today and almost equal to the "Perfect Storm", in certain places. Moby Dick itself is a sight to behold. It has to be at list twenty times the size of the shark in Jaws. It's a wonder of prop making indeed. Barrymore, I repeat his fabulous embodying the character completely. Well, this was his second time playing the character. All, in all, good Hollywood entertainment. 9/10.