The Sea Beast
| The Sea Beast | |
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| Directed by | Millard Webb |
| Written by | Bess Meredyth Rupert Hughes (titles) Jack Wagner (uncredited) |
| Based on | Moby-Dick (1851 novel) by Herman Melville |
| Starring |
John Barrymore Dolores Costello George O'Hara |
| Cinematography |
Byron Haskin Frank Kesson |
| Edited by | Rupert Hughes |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
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Release date
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Running time
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100 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
The Sea Beast is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Millard Webb, starring John Barrymore and Dolores Costello. The film was a major commercial success and one of the biggest pictures of 1926. The Sea Beast is an 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 and sequel elements that are not in the original story—such as the romancing of Esther and Ahab's safe return, respectively—and substitutes a happy ending for Melville's original tragic one. Some of the characters in the film do not appear in Melville's original novel.
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, an albino whale has been eluding harpooners, and bears the scars of many failed attacks against him. The animal's fame has reached epic proportions. One day, Ahab and Derek are on the same whaler as the whale heaves into view. Ahab raises his harpoon to kill the beast, but at that moment, Derek pushes him overboard and Ahab loses a right leg to the whale. 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.
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.
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Wikipedia