| The Sea Beast | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Millard Webb |
| Produced by | Warner Brothers |
| Written by | Bess Meredyth |
| Starring | John Barrymore Dolores Costello George O'Hara |
| Cinematography | Byron Haskin Frank Kesson |
| Editing by | Rupert Hughes |
| Distributed by | Warner Brothers |
| Release date(s) | January 15, 1926 |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | USA |
| Language | Silent film English intertitles |
The Sea Beast (1926) is a silent film adaptation of the novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville, a story about a monomaniacal hunt for a great white whale. However, the film alters the novel's plotline by establishing prequel(the romancing of Esther) and sequel(Ahab's safe return) elements that are not in the original story and substitutes a happy ending for Melville's original tragic one in which the entire crew of the ship Pequod, save for crew member Ishmael, is killed by Moby Dick.
Some of the characters in the film do not appear in Melville's original novel.
Contents |
At the beginning of the story, Ahab(John Barrymore) and his half brother Derek (George O'Hara) compete for the affections of a winsome minister's daughter, Esther Wiscasset (Dolores Costello). Meanwhile, the albino whale has been eluding harpooners, and bears the scars of many failed attacks against him. His fame has reached epic proportions. One day, Ahab and Derek are on the same whaler as the whale heaves into view. With the visual drama enhanced by the water and pitching boat, Ahab raises his harpoon to kill the beast. At that moment, Derek pushes him overboard and Ahab loses a right leg to the whale. In this scene, Barrymore's portrayal of agonizing pain as an antiseptic is poured over what remains of his leg contributed to his fame as a silents actor. Not long after this incident, the shallow Esther rebuffs Ahab as her suitor once she catches sight of his peg leg. Heartbroken at this turn of events, Ahab blames neither Esther nor his brother - instead he transfers blame and an undying hatred onto the whale.
The following saga of Ahab's pursuit of the whale takes on the aura of a super-human quest, far beyond the proportions of its first motivation. One of the most popular of Barrymore's films, this version extends the story beyond the final battle of man versus whale in a variation on Melville's book. Adding publicity to the film was a bit of early Hollywood hype, unintentional though it may seem. The actress Priscilla Bonner was fired by Barrymore from the role of Wiscasset, in preference for his lover actress Dolores Costello, and in a curious parallel to Ahab and the mighty whale, Bonner successfully sued the studio and won a considerable out-of-court settlement. Doubtless due to the popularity of this film, an all-talking version was released in 1930 under Melville's original book title, with Barrymore again in the role of Captain Ahab. The 1930 film used the plotline of The Sea Beast, rather than following Melville's novel. A German language version, Daemon des Mers, was filmed simultaneously in Hollywood by Warner Bros. It was directed by Wilhelm Dieterle (soon to be known as William Dieterle), just beginning his American career.
John Barrymore signed a three film contract with Warner Brothers in 1925 after the success of 1924's Beau Brummel. Barrymore had always wanted to do a film version of Moby Dick and insisted on making this film first rather than the prospected first contract film Don Juan. In retrospect and because of this delay Don Juan became the first Warner feature to have the Vitaphone soundtrack rather than The Sea Beast.