In Ketten um Kap Horn

Ah, another "I wasn't in Mutiny on the Bounty" movie: Two Years Before the Mast. As countless tough guy actors got their chance to play a Captain Bligh ripoff, tons of leading man actors got their chance to play a Fletcher Christian ripoff. If you want to see a perpetually shirtless Alan Ladd in the Fletcher Christian part, and Howard Da Silva in the Captain Bligh part, rent this one.

Alan is young and inexperienced, and while in a tavern, he gets knocked over the head and kidnapped to work as a crewmember on an imposing ship. Back in the 1800s, things like that did happen, and it was pretty scary. Especially since the reason the sailors needed to kidnap their crew was because their captain was so tyrannical, no one in his right mind would volunteer.

As evil as Howard Da Silva is, Alan does have one friend aboard the ship: Brian Donlevy. Ironically, if you want to see Brian as a tough captain, check out the following year's The Song of Scheherazade. Brian is sympathetic and keeps a diary of all the atrocities committed aboard the ship. William Bendix is the first mate, torn between his loyalty to his captain and the horrors he sees. Roman Bohnen, Barry Fitzgerald, Ray Collins, and Darryl Hickman can also be seen in the supporting cast. Although you can tell the quality isn't A-tier, this one is still entertaining, so you can check it out if you're an Alan Ladd fan.

This film rather than Shane marks the high point of Alan Ladd's golden Paramount years. By the time Shane was made, Ladd and agent/wife Sue Carol had made the decision to leave Paramount.

Sue picked a good one for her husband in Two Years Before the Mast. It's based on a book of the same title by Richard Henry Dana about his experiences aboard a typical American merchant vessel during the 1840s. Dana is played by Brian Donlevy and it is through his eyes that we see the action unfold.

As the film opens Ladd is the spoiled son of a rich merchant family. While out slumming with some of the 19th century brat pack he hangs out with, Ladd gets shanghaied aboard one of his father's own ships. That ship is commanded by an American version of Captain Bligh in Howard DaSilva.

DaSilva, who's career was to be interrupted by the blacklist shortly, is maybe the best one in this fine cast. He's a career naval officer who was cashiered and he runs his ship that way. Has the crew take gunnery practice even. The essence of that part is that he doesn't see himself as cruel. This is just the way things are at sea.

Barry Fitzgerald, like in the Sea Wolf, plays the ship's cook. But Dooley is 180 degrees different from the weasel Fitzgerald portrayed in The Sea Wolf. Shows his versatility as a player.

Bill Bendix was someone Ladd liked to have in his films if he could get him. He plays the tough, but respected first mate Amazine here. Bendix was in a different class than other character actors. He was a star on radio's and later television's Life of Riley and usually because of that, got roles with some depth. Even when the roles didn't, the talented Mr. Bendix put some depth in them.

The rest of the cast assembled to support Alan Ladd is a good one. Familiar folks like Albert Dekker, Frank Faylen, Luis Van Rooten, Ray Collins fill out their roles nicely.

One part is particularly poignant. Young Darryl Hickman is an office boy in Ladd's father's company and he stows away because he's filled with dreamy adolescent notions about life at sea. Despite all he sees around him and even what happens to him, young Hickman never loses sight of the fact that he's on a great adventure.

Considering the studio origins of the film, Paramount does a very good job in a realistic portrayal of life at sea. If you like sea stories, this one's a must.

By several respects ,some kind of updated "Captain courageous" (Victor Fleming ,1937).The rich kid (Alan Ladd) has grown up and he is still frivolous ,part of the young jet set ,drinking and picking up girls in the low dives of the harbor.When dad learns that his boy is on his own ship,in the clutch of a -rather sadistic- captain ,he does not panic and wisely mumbles something like " it 'll make a man of him" ;which is not entirely false.Not only ,the boy born silver spoon in hand will learn the harsh realities of life ,but he'll also feel for his unfortunate shipmates (many of them poor press-ganged aboard victims like himself ).

Although the movie is centered on Ladd's misadventures ,it actually depicts "Henry Dana's crusade to expose mistreatment of men at sea" (Maltin).But the reviewer is wrong when he writes that it is a "badly scripted story":in fact only the female character gets in the way and the ending is botched.All that remains is absorbing ,the standout being for me the ship's boy.Farrow was better at film noir ,but his attempt at an adventures movies is recommendable.

Like this ? try these ....

"Mutiny on the Bounty" (Frank Lloyd's 1935 version is still the best) "Captain Courageous" (Fleming,1937) "Down to the sea in ships" (Henry Hathaway,1949) "Ghost Ship" (Mark Robson/Val Lewton,1943) "White squall" (Ridley Scott,1996)

When the story begins, a merchant ship has just arrived in Boston and the Captain of this ship has a reputation as a real jerk. That same night, the ship owner's son, Charles (Alan Ladd), is knocked out by a press gang and later awakens on this same ship...forced to become a crewmember on this ship of the damned.

Through the journey, the Captain (Howard De Silva), is a real monster--treating his crew with little respect nor dignity. Over time, the crew begin to die off from scurvy...and yet the captain does nothing to remedy the situation. His only desire is to complete his round the world journey as fast as possible. Eventually it gets so bad that mutiny seems to be the only alternative. What's next?

This film surprised me. At first, I thought it was going to just be another Alan Ladd featured adventure flick...the sort of thing Paramount churned out again and again once he became a star. Instead, I was taken aback by two things. It really was NOT an Alan Ladd film but much more a film with an ensemble cast. It did not rest solely on Ladd's shoulders and the film allowed for several really good performances. De Silva was at his evil best but kudos also to William Bendix, Brian Donlevy, Albert Dekker and young Daryl Hickman. In addition, the film had real depth to it....and was very exciting. It was not just another programmer. Overall, a surprisingly good and exciting adventure film...one I really enjoyed.

This is a movie to see to get a feel for what it must have been like back in the "good old days" of tall ships and iron men. Lemme tell ya, the cruise ships of today are as far from "sailing" as a toy poodle is from a wolf.

This is one of my favorite movies, Alan Ladd is wonderful as the spoiled rich boy, while Howard Da Silva as the ruthless captain only interested in setting a new record around Cape Horn creates a new high-water mark for callousness. (What's with sea captains in Hollywood movies, anyway? If it's not the bumbling incompetence of Bogart's Queeg it's the cold heartlessness of Trevor Howard and Charles Laughton's Captain Bligh.) The stowaway kid (Darryl Hickman) is a bit over-the-top I admit, but it seems they all were in movies made back then. Speaking of back then, this baby is in black-and-white, and although some of the scenes in the various waterfront bars and in the hold of the ship benefit thereby, the outdoor scenes suffer a bit because of it. And speaking of outdoor scenes, they really didn't put much of the budget into special effects, as the boat looks exactly like what it is, a toy bobbing around in someone's bathtub.

Still, that's not why people love this movie. It's the fascination of watching Alan Ladd's Charles Stewart transformed from rich, obnoxious playboy into deeply affected human being as he watches the massive cruelty and abuse around him. The cruelty and virtual slavery of these sailors is portrayed with an unflinching eye, and you're cheering along with them when the final confrontation unfolds. As someone wiser than me observed, "Going to sea is going to jail, with a chance at drowning besides."