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"They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord; and his wonders in the deep." - Psalm 107

In the whaling town of New Bedford, Massachusetts, pretty Marguerite Courtot (as Patience Morgan) plays with her dolls; an adult, she longs for her girlhood days with "the boy next door". Happily, her objectification, Raymond McKee (as Thomas Allan Dexter), returns, after some years in college. Soon, Mr. McKee opens a mill, and begins to court Ms. Courtot. McKee asks her father William Walcott (as William Morgan) for Courtot's hand in marriage. But Walcott, a strict Quaker, won't allow his obedient daughter to marry outside her religion. McKee offers to convert, but finds another challenge almost insurmountable:

"Patience is a whaleman's daughter," Walcott explains, "Unless thee has thrown a harpoon into a whale, take thy story of love elsewhere. It can never be -- never!" So, McKee goes directly to the next whaling ship, hoping to harpoon a whale; instead, he is abducted, and put to work aboard. Mixing it up in the waling ship is mischievous stowaway Clara Bow (as Dot Morgan), Walcott's grand-daughter; she has an eye for cabin boy James Turfler (as Jimmy). Meanwhile, Patrick Hartigan ( as Jake Finner) and Jack Baston (as Samuel Siggs) are plotting to steal both Walcott's ship, and his daughter's virtue…

The main story, and performances of the principals are thoroughly unconvincing; although McKee does well whaling, while Courtot, the film's feminine lead, sits at home playing with her dolls. There are disturbing religious and racial undertones in the plotting. Ms. Bow, in her second film, and Mr. Turfler easily steal the attention. The Elmer Clifton direction, and photography by A.G. Penrod with Paul H. Allen are outstanding, however; and, their seafaring scenes are thrilling.

******* Down to the Sea in Ships (11/22/22) Elmer Clifton ~ Raymond McKee, Marguerite Courtot, Clara Bow

In the late 19th Century, aged Quaker Charles Morgan (William Walcott) owns a whaler, but no longer goes out on it. Unfortunately, the, ah, nefarious Siggs wants to marry Morgan's daughter Patience (Marguerite Courtot), but she's in love with the, um, good, wonderfull childhood friend Allan (Raymond McKee), but her father won't let her marry a non whaler so he... um... well... allright. If you don't know what's going to happen, you must be a hermit. And quite a hermit.

The story of the silent historical "drama" is so old and cliched people living in the stone age would have been bored and found it predictable. It's fast paced, but so stunningly predictable that it's extraordinarily boring. It's hard to stick through its 83 minutes that seem to last forever. And there aren't even any interesting complications

However, there are two good things that almost redeem the film. First, there are the historical scenes. The whaling scenes, while they take too long to get to, are very well made and detailed. The scenes at home were done in a real Quaker village and seem extremely authentic. The mutiny is great. And the scene where a whale is dragging around a smaller ship, pulling it over near surfing-height waves is awesome and thrilling.

The second thing that's good is a supporting cast member. This was Clara Bow's first film, and she is excellent. While the rest of the cast is good enough, she puts them too shame in a small role. If only it had been bigger. Much bigger...

So, every now and then, it's fun.

So, do I recomend it? Of course, if you couldn't possibly ever stand a silent film, avoid this like the plague. It will merely confirm your suspision that silent films stunk. Watch one like Battleship Potemkin instead. On the other hand, if you're a die-hard Clara Bow fan or interesting in late 19th-century whaling techniques, see this if you can. But don't look for anything you haven't seen before. Or that many things that are particularly interesting. Just watch Clara Bow when she comes on.

Rating: * * (out of four)

DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS (Hodkinson Studios, 1922), presented and personally directed by Elmer Clifton, produced in New Bedford, Massachusetts, by the Whaling Film Corporation, Wholesome Film Service Inc., the New England Distributor, bears no resemblance to the 20th Century-Fox 1949 whaling saga starring Richard Widmark, Dean Stockwell and Lionel Barrymore, except in title only. As much as this could have been an earlier screen treatment to the latter seafaring adventure, the titles are the same but the storyline is not. No doubt the romantic leading players to this 1922 production, Marguerite Courtot and Raymond McKee, have little or no significance to anyone today, but for historical purposes, other than its authentic whaling expeditions and actual location shooting, it's reputation rests solely as the film that launched the career of future film star Clara Bow (1905-1965), making her motion picture debut.

With the predictable but satisfying plot about separated lovers (Courtot and McKee) and a scheming villain (J. Thornton Baston), DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS is a worthy silent film that captures the technical ingenuity of the day and the life of whaling men, at times told in documentary style. Director Elmer Clifton even imposes quotes through title cards from Herman Melville's classic whaling novel, "Moby Dick" as well as the literary works of Richard Henry Dana (author of "Two Years Before the Mast"). Many historical landmarks of New Bedford are featured, including the Apponegansett Meeting House, built in 1790, along with gardens from the museum of the Old Dartmouth Historical Society focused towards the end. Scenes such as these are sure to marvel even those present day residents of New Bedford, but it's the whaling sequences, then and now, that are highlights, along with one realistic shark attack sequence, which, naturally, did not cause any actors involved to become human sacrificed as shark bait

Though not up to the standards of today's technology of movie making, DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS goes on record as the sort of adventure story predating many of those seafaring epics popular in later years. Instead of studio bound sets with rear projection scenes, along with model ships floating in giant tanks, it's been reported that everything about this production was filmed on location. Speaking of location shooting, when DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS was presented on public television as part of its 12-week series of THE SILENT YEARS (1975), its host, Lillian Gish, who normally profiled her insight about the upcoming film inside a studio room, did her presentation on the actual site of the vessel used for this 1922 production in New Bedford, Massachusetts. She did go on in saying that while the movie lacked marquee names, it produced an unlikely star appearing in a small role, Clara Bow. An interesting introduction to the gal whose many films represented the jazz era during the roaring twenties, by which she was usually cast as an independent modern woman, immortalized as The "IT" Girl by 1927. This is where this Brooklyn, N.Y., gal got her start. Many felt Clara Bow stole the show from her leading players. Aside from her tomboyish performance which pitted her in a fist fight with another boy, she was equally memorable as the stowaway sporting a man's suit and top hat. Marguerite Courtot, who at times resembles a dark-haired Lillian Gish, particularly during the early portion of the story, interacts well with her co-star, Raymond McKee, whom she actually married by the time production was completed. McKee, who has more screen time than his leading lady, is the actual star of the film, as the bold young man taken out to sea where he conquers everything possible in order to try and win back the girl he loves. With a handful of silent films lost and gone forever, DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS is fortunate to have survived, making this the only known Marguerite Courtot movie in circulation today.

Director Elmer Clifton, who got his start under D.W. Griffith, obviously brings forth certain factors made famous by this pioneer director, such as a flashback showing the young lovers, Patience and Dexter, as children, in which Patience tries to help little Dexter to pull out a loose tooth from his mouth with a string; along with close ups and super imposing shots. One scene worth mentioning finds now adult Dexter, standing on the mast as the wind is blowing through his curly hair, looking out to sea and envisioning the image of Patience into the clouds, something similarly used in Michael Curtiz's seafaring adventure of CAPTAIN BLOOD (Warners, 1935) where Errol Flynn as Peter Blood looks out to sea with the super imposing of his lady love, Arabella (Olivia De Havilland). Quite effective on both counts.

DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS can be see occasionally on Turner Classic Movies' "Silent Sunday Nights" accompanied by William Perry piano scoring from the Paul Killian collection, the exact print used through the distribution of Blackhawk Video, and the 1975 presentation of THE SILENT YEARS. Running time being 83 minutes, it's possible it might have been a lot longer, considering a couple of noticeable abrupt cuts, such as the crew departing the vessel to go on land to bring in the supply of food and wood, Dot running through the beaches and throwing pebbles to watch the birds fly away, to suddenly go to the next sequence with crew heading out to sea to harpoon whales.

DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS could be a rough voyage to some contemporary viewers, and a whale of a time for others. Available on video cassette and later DVD from Kino International, it continues to be part of the Clara Bow collection, for whom this movie is truly dedicated. (*** whales)

This DVD double feature of Clara Bow at the beginning and during the thick of her career gives us a fascinating glimpse of one of the most popular silent stars. DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS (1922) was shot when Clara was only 16 by D. W. Griffith protege' Elmer Clifton. Her part is only a supporting one but you can clearly see the star potential there. The main focus of this film is not the romance between the two leads but rather the detailed scenes of New Bedford whalers plying their trade. This makes the film a fascinating historical document which is not for the squeamish as it contains actual and graphic footage of the killing and dismembering of whales. What you see is MOBY DICK for real. This print taken from the Killiam Collection is in good shape although it seems a little fast at times. It is much better than the old VHS version put out by Critic"s Choice some years back.

PARISIAN LOVE (1925) was made only 3 years later but what a difference in Clara's appearance. Here she is the star and fully displays the vivacious charm and charisma that made her so popular. The story of French Apache lovers and their benefactor is a little hard to follow probably due to some missing footage and features some rather curious interplay between the male leads. The sets of Parisian garrets are marvelous and Lillian Leighton steals the show as a Marie Dressler like matriarch at a swanky party. This DVD copy was taken from the only surviving print which was discovered in 1998 and restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. All in all an interesting combination of 1920's style romance with rugged documentary style footage and the chance to see Clara Bow develop from a Mary Pickford like tomboy into a full fledged star. Yet another fine job from Kino International in their ongoing series of silent film presentations on DVD...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

This creaky old warhorse of a film is still eminently watchable more than 80 years after it was made.

Yes, it's a silent film of the 20's with all the ills they were heir to. The comic posturing of the actors, the overly dramatic piano accompaniment, and the simplistic plot twists necessitated by title cards. Still the basic story holds up well and the film is interesting through out. Yet with a certain amount of `willing suspension of disbelief' you find yourself caring about the characters more than you would expect.

There are some elements that make a modern audience squeamish, the whole brutal process of whaling, the slaughter of a dolphin as food, and the almost formulaic use of blacks and Native Americans in demeaning roles but those were different times. In some ways these add to the reasons that one should watch this film today, not so much as an entertainment vehicle, but as a time capsule.

Finally, this film is worth watching, as it was the first film to feature Clara Bow. The camera loves her and she adds an element of naturalness to the otherwise overly stilted acting and has moments of brilliance that would make you feel that she'd be right at home in a present day movie.