Le Vieil Homme et la mer

One of Spencer Tracy's top performances; it goes down with "Captain's Courageous." Most often a book is better then the movie but in this case the movie brings the book to life. This is due to the somewhat larger then life character of Tracy. The story, although classic and definitely worth while reading, is best summed up by Tracy's acting technique.

This was no location film which means the greater portion of realism must come from the actor. A story about a man thinking and talking to himself while he is on a boat for three days would be difficult for any actor. Tracy brings the truest sense of humility and courage to this role. It is enjoyable reading but I encourage anyone to see this movie.

I read the book again before viewing the movie on video. The book is very short and the movie follows the narration very closely. Some of the narration is dropped, however, in the version I viewed. The fisherman is a lot like many of us as we grow older and it is very heartwarming to see how he faces his tribulations with such a wise philosophy. He does not harbor ill will toward anyone or anything, including the great fish, but accepts life and makes no judgements.

Spencer Tracy provides an excellent portrayal, as usual, of the main character. The boy acted very well and I wondered what his future had in store for him. I wondered if He would be effected by the Cuban Revolution a few years later. I told my wife that it would be interesting if he became a revolutionary if the story continued. It was very interesting to find that in real life, according to the Movie data base biography, his father was an economist and a principal participant in the Cuban Revolution a few years later.

A book well written and a film adaption that presents the story as I imagined it while reading the book.

An American drama; A story about an old Cuban fisherman who has not caught anything in 84 days. This is a film adaptation of Hemingway's Pulitzer-winning novella. The best that can be said about it is Spencer Tracy's Academy Award-nominated performance, its winning score, and the sumptuous colour photography also recognised that year by the Academy. It is a faithful adaptation in terms of narrative. Tracy embodies the old man wonderfully, particularly in capturing the modesty and kindliness of Santiago, the Cuban apprentice boy's hero. The film's shortcomings can be said to be the production values, i.e., the scenes at sea. The producers also failed to effect Santiago's wrestling with the fish, scenes that were key to the source material as well; the brilliant stock footage of big fish only goes so far to assuage the disappointment in these sequences. All in all, viewers will admire Tracy for his naturalism on screen, something that comes easy to very few film actors.

Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" is a classic literary work but it isn't well suited to screen adaptation. This film has some of the necessary ingredients for success but comes up short in several respects.

Spencer Tracy turns in a fine performance as the titular 'old man', one which was rewarded with an Oscar nomination. Felipe Pazos (as the boy), on the other hand, is a dreadful actor and almost drags Tracy's performance down in the scenes that they share. Tracy does double duty as the omniscient narrator as well, though I don't think that it made much sense to delegate that task to the actor playing the main character of the film.

John Sturges seems to have had to cobble together footage from various shoots and locations, resulting in a somewhat haphazard look. Budgetary concerns were likely a part of the problem along with limitations in technology.

Dimitri Tiomkin's score won an Oscar but I didn't think it was that exceptional. Certainly not nearly as memorable as the scores that Elmer Bernstein provided for Sturges's "The Magnificent Seven" and "The Great Escape".

While some will undoubtedly find the story boring I think that it is easily the best part of this picture. Behind the simple story of a man and his marlin there are layers upon layers of deeper meaning. I could have done without some of the narration, though, particularly when the same thing could have been conveyed with visuals.

In the end, I give the content of the film high points though the film's technical aspects are riddled with inadequacies. It's worth watching but you should be prepared for some decidedly rough edges.

From the brilliant literally mind of Earnest Hemmingway, comes the touching story of " The Old Man and The Sea ". Spencer Tracy, plays The Old Man and his fine acting in this movie, garnered him an Oscar nomination in 1958. Tracy stars in the film and narrates the story. One follows attentively as he tells his tale of the Old Cuban and the native boy. Felipe Pazos plays the Boy and the two become life long friends. The simple quest of the Old Fishman to go out into the vast ocean in his little skiff to bring back enough fish to eat is a daily chore. What transpires is that many days go by without the Old Man catching anything at all. When the boy reminds him, he can bring the old man some luck, the old man prays earnestly to catch something worthy of his life at sea. When his prayer is answered, the old man is unsure of his amazing luck. The 'Catch of a Lifetime ' sends the old man into a retrospect of his life and it's recollection become the heart of the story. This is one of those stories where, the right actor was chosen to bring life to the novel and succeeded. A great film which has become a Classic to any who enjoy a great movie. ****