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The Sea Beast (1926)
Directed by: Millard Webb
Starring: John Barrymore, Dolores Costello, George O'Hara
Length: 133 minutes
Genre: Adventure
Based on: The novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Captain Ahab (John Barrymore) and his half brother Derek (George O'Hara) compete for the affection of Esther (Dolores Costello), but it's no contest. Esther is completely in love with Ahab. Derek, bitter and jealous, pushes Ahab overboard while they hunt for the elusive white whale. Ahab loses a leg as a result, and returns home depressed and worried that Esther will leave him.
However, Esther, initially shocked, still loves Ahab, but Derek uses the situation to convince Ahab that Esther is ashamed to be around him. He also lies to Ahab, saying that he and Esther are now in love. Ahab lets Derek go, and becomes bitter. Unaware of his half brother's plot, he puts the full blame on the white whale.
The movie was good at times, and downright terrible at others. Part of the reason was the soundtrack. The makers of the DVD release put a modern sounding music score to it, and it was very distracting. It had rock music playing during the action sequences. Sounds good in theory, but really distracting. You are watching a move from the 1920s with music that the world won't know until decades later. Just didn't fit well.
The quality of the film was also pretty bad. Much of it was overexposed, making the white almost blinding. A few times, there is a letter held up to the camera to read, but it is impossible to read. You can't even see the writing. At times, you can't see what is going on in the background until the scene fades out.
There were also times when there are just too many title cards. The best movies are able to convey emotion and even dialogue through mannerisms and facial expressions. And this one did a fine job of that. The acting was fine and it didn't need the occasional bombardment of title cards.
Also, this was the first movie that John Barrymore and Dolores Costello worked on together, but they were lovers off the screen. John Barrymore fired the actress originally hired to play Esther so that he could put Dolores in the role. They would marry in 1928 and have 2 kids, one of them being John Drew Barrymore, Drew Barrymore's father.
Entertainment Rating: 4/10
Historical Rating: 6/10
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