Ron Oliver (revilorest@juno.com) wrote on IMDB:
A crazed sea captain searches the Seven Seas for MOBY DICK, the great
white whale which maimed him.
To enjoy this film on its own merits it would be well for the viewer to
remind himself that great literature does not always become great
cinema. The two art forms are very dissimilar, each making different
demands upon its audience. Sometimes, as in this instance, there is
only a hint of the original story when it reaches the screen.
Do not look for Ishmael or the Pequod here; you will not find them.
Don't expect any titanic & transcendental clash between man and brute
beast at the climax. Indeed, the conclusion of the film is so radically
different from the novel as to be almost startling.
What will you find is a good-looking movie with very fine production
values, featuring an enormously enjoyable performance by John Barrymore
as Captain Ahab. Barrymore overacts outrageously, as is to be expected
with a role of this sort, chewing the scenery and rolling his
extraordinary eyes. In short, he is tremendous fun, even during the
unexpected scenes depicting Ahab in love. His brief foray into church,
followed by an adoring stray dog, is hilarious, not a descriptive term
one usually associates with Melville's character. In short, the entire
film is a star vehicle for Barrymore and he remains the primary reason
to view it. [ show more ]
Joan Bennett, as Ahab's love, and Lloyd Hughes, as Ahab's resentful
younger brother, don't fare as well in comparison to Barrymore's
scene-stealing antics. Hughes' final moments, after being shanghaied
onto Barrymore's ship, are his most effective, but Miss Bennett is not
given much to do during her solemn sequences except to act patient and
brave, which can be very dull.
Silent film star Noble Johnson has one of his best talkie roles as the
half-savage Queequeg, Ahab's only true friend. Another excellent actor
from Silent days, Nigel De Brulier, shows up very briefly as a pathetic
barroom preacher. Character actress Virginia Sale is quite droll in her
brief role as a New Bedford spinster.
The scenes actually showing Moby Dick are dramatic and frightening,
even though the fate the script has in store for him would never have
passed muster with Melville. [ show less ]
Written on IMDB a long time ago.
