Moby Dick (1930 film)

Last updated

Moby Dick
Moby Dick 1930 Poster.jpg
Theatrical poster
Directed by Lloyd Bacon
Written by Oliver H.P. Garrett
(adaptation)
Screenplay by J. Grubb Alexander
Based on Moby-Dick
by Herman Melville
Produced by
Starring John Barrymore
Cinematography Robert Kurrle
Edited byDesmond O'Brien
Music by
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Release date
  • September 30, 1930 (1930-09-30)
Running time
80 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$604,000 [1]
Box office$797,000 [1]

Moby Dick is a 1930 American pre-Code film from Warner Bros., directed by Lloyd Bacon, and starring John Barrymore, Joan Bennett and Walter Lang. [2] The film is a sound remake of the 1926 silent movie, The Sea Beast , which also starred Barrymore. [3] It is the first film adaptation of Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby Dick that includes a soundtrack. [2]

Contents

Plot

The film tells of a sea captain's maniacal quest for revenge on the great white whale that bit off his leg.

After disembarking in New Bedford, Ahab Ceely meets and falls in love with Faith Mapple, the daughter of the local minister. Although courted by Ahab's brother Derek, she falls in love with the daring Ahab. She is heartbroken when he leaves on another voyage, but says she will wait three years for him to return. During this next voyage, Ahab loses his right leg to Moby Dick, a white whale. When Ahab returns to New Bedford, he mistakenly believes that the woman he loves no longer wants to see him because of his disfigurement, an opinion encouraged by Ahab's brother, who wants Faith for himself. Ahab vows revenge against the whale, to kill it or be killed in the process, and returns to sea. Eventually, Ahab raises enough capital to buy his own ship, but no one wants to sail with him because of his passion for destroying Moby Dick. On a resupply visit to New Bedford, most of the crew deserts the ship. Ahab directs his first mate to shanghai the necessary men and unknowingly takes his brother on board. During a storm, the crew mutinies and Ahab's brother tries to kill him; he fails, and Queequeg breaks his back. Ahab orders that Derek be taken to Ahab's cabin. Moby Dick is sighted, and Ahab leads the boats out to get him. Driven by bloodlust, he stands on Moby Dick's back and stabs him repeatedly with a harpoon as the dying whale's spouting blood covers him. The crew renders the whale for oil, and they return to New Bedford, where Ahab and Faith are reunited.

Cast

Foreign-language versions

One foreign-language version of the 1930 film of Moby Dick was produced. The German version was titled Dämon des Meeres and was directed by Michael Curtiz.

Box office

According to records at Warner Bros., the film earned $579,000 in the U.S. and $218,000 in other markets. [1]

Reception

In his August 15, 1930, review, The New York Times critic Mordaunt Hall compared Moby Dick to The Sea Beast : “Enhanced by a variety of sounds and the power of speech, the audible picturization…(is) a far more impressive melodrama than the silent version, which was presented here three and a half years ago. And John Barrymore, who fills the rôle of the indomitable, half-crazed Ahab Ceeley, gives a performance that puts his work, even the latter part of the mute offering, in the shade. With all the liberties taken with the original story, … It is a well-knit tale of the men who went down to the seas in whaling ships and when one hears the man in the main top shouting, "Thar she blows!" it creates a thrill such as the screen is seldom capable of affording. One is willing to overlook melodramatic glimpses, for the picture as a whole is splendidly handled. Twice during the unfurling of this story the screen is enlarged and compelling scenes are projected. Sometimes it is the whaler under full sail silhouetted on the sun-silvered, choppy sea. Another time it is the wild-eyed Ahab's ship battling against a realistic storm. Then there are flashes of the shanghaied crew, a gang of cutthroats described as more accustomed to murder than hurling harpoons at whales.The story races along, and it matters not if the whale is real or not, for the effect is there, whether the white monster of the deep is pulling the small boat through the water at amazing speed, dashing it to bits with a swish of its tail, or, when its great bulk is seen with what looks like a Lilliputian sticking something that looks no larger than a good-sized needle into its half-submerged form. Then follow close-ups that last night caused more than one woman to cover her eyes with her program, for in these glimpses Ahab is seen vigorously getting his revenge on the white whale that had bitten off half his right leg in an earlier cruise.The scenes in New Bedford and the romance of Ahab and Faith are capitally pictured and flawlessly acted….Lloyd Hughes has a real opportunity this time, in the part of the treacherous Derek, to reveal his histrionic ability…There is also a clever dog, (whose devotion)… is subtly portrayed in contrast with the conduct of Faith when she is shocked by the realization that Ahab has returned with a peg-leg. Lloyd Bacon, the director, has done an excellent job. He has inculcated feeling into his picture as well as lending to it sterling photographic effects. Moreover, he has taken full advantage of the chances for sound, whether it is the lapping of the water, the noises aboard ship during the excitement of sighting a whale or those on the vessel when the whalers return joyously to their home port. Mr. Barrymore is Mr. Barrymore of the stage in this film, and not the great silent lover who is made to turn his profile to the camera on the slightest provocation. Words bring out his true talent, …There is no shilly-shallying in his portrayal of the character, which makes a whaler a man of the seas, one who gloats over the tattooed figures of women on his arm and who evidently only represses oaths when confronted by the charming presence of Faith. Although there is the sequence where a red-hot iron is used on the stump of Ahab's leg, it is filmed less extravagantly than it was in the old silent film. True, there is the agony and the director does not mince matters in giving the details, but once it is over he shifts quickly to a gentle scene depicting Faith in her home. (Miss Bennett's) …acting is enough to make even a hardened soul wish for a happy ending. The Sea Beast was a huge success…but this vocalized "Moby Dick" should reap an infinitely greater reward.” [4]

Preservation status

The film survives intact and has been broadcast on television [5] and cable and is available through Warner Archive DVD-on-demand. [6] A print has long been preserved at the Library of Congress. [7]

Comparison to novel

This Moby Dick bears little resemblance to the novel. The filmmakers even put words in Melville's mouth. [8] Marc Di Paolo describes it as "a poorly conceived and unfaithful version...in which Ahab...slays the white whale at the end and goes home to his true love." [9] Walter C. Metz observes that the film excludes the novel's central character Ishmael and "produces a conventional Hollywood love story between Ahab and Faith, the invented daughter of Rev. Mapple, whose moral purity reforms Ahab from a bawdy sailor into a marriageable man." The filmmakers created Ahab's back story, [10] creating a love story that does not appear in the novel. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Moby-Dick</i> 1851 novel by Herman Melville

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship Pequod, for vengeance against Moby Dick, the giant white sperm whale that bit off his leg on the ship's previous voyage. A contribution to the literature of the American Renaissance, Moby-Dick was published to mixed reviews, was a commercial failure, and was out of print at the time of the author's death in 1891. Its reputation as a Great American Novel was established only in the 20th century, after the 1919 centennial of its author's birth. William Faulkner said he wished he had written the book himself, and D. H. Lawrence called it "one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world" and "the greatest book of the sea ever written". Its opening sentence, "Call me Ishmael", is among world literature's most famous.

Ishmael (<i>Moby-Dick</i>) Fictional character from the novel Moby-Dick

Ishmael is a character in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick (1851), which opens with the line, "Call me Ishmael." He is the first person narrator in much of the book. Because Ishmael plays a minor role in the plot, early critics of Moby-Dick assumed that Captain Ahab was the protagonist. Many either confused Ishmael with Melville or overlooked the role he played. Later critics distinguished Ishmael from Melville, and some saw his mystic and speculative consciousness as the novel's central force rather than Captain Ahab's monomaniacal force of will.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queequeg</span> Fictional character from the novel Moby-Dick

Queequeg is a character in the 1851 novel Moby-Dick by American author Herman Melville. The story outlines his royal, Polynesian descent, as well as his desire to “visit Christendom” that led him to leave his homeland. Queequeg is visually distinguished by his striking facial tattoos and tan skin. Ishmael encounters Queequeg in Chapter Four and they become unlikely friends. Once aboard the whaling ship the Pequod, Queequeg becomes the harpooner for the mate Starbuck.

<i>Down to the Sea in Ships</i> (1922 film) 1922 movie by Elmer Clifton

Down to the Sea in Ships is a 1922 American silent romantic drama film about a 19th-century Massachusetts whaling family. Directed by Elmer Clifton, the film stars William Walcott, Marguerite Courtot, and Clara Bow. The film's title comes from Psalm 107, verses 23–24.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mocha Dick</span> Sperm whale that inspired the novel Moby Dick

Mocha Dick was a male sperm whale that lived in the Pacific Ocean in the early 19th century, usually encountered in the waters near Mocha Island, off the central coast of Chile. American explorer and author Jeremiah N. Reynolds published his account, "Mocha Dick: Or The White Whale of the Pacific: A Leaf from a Manuscript Journal" in 1839 in The Knickerbocker. Mocha Dick was an albino and partially inspired Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick.

<i>Pequod</i> (<i>Moby-Dick</i>) Fictional ship from the novel Moby-Dick

Pequod is a fictional 19th-century Nantucket whaling ship that appears in the 1851 novel Moby-Dick by American author Herman Melville. Pequod and her crew, commanded by Captain Ahab, are central to the story, which, after the initial chapters, takes place almost entirely aboard the ship during a three-year whaling expedition in the Atlantic, Indian and South Pacific oceans. Most of the characters in the novel are part of Pequod's crew.

<i>Moby Dick</i> (1956 film) 1956 film by John Huston

Moby Dick is a 1956 period adventure drama film directed and produced by John Huston, adapted by Huston and Ray Bradbury from Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick. It stars Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab, Richard Basehart as Ishmael, and Leo Genn as Starbuck, with supporting performances by James Robertson Justice, Harry Andrews, Friedrich von Ledebur, Bernard Miles, Noel Purcell and Orson Welles. The film was a co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States.

<i>Moby Dick</i> (musical)

Moby Dick is a musical with a book by Robert Longden, and music and lyrics by Longden and Hereward Kaye, first staged in 1990. The plot follows the anarchic and nubile girls of St. Godley's Academy for Young Ladies who, determined to save the institution from bankruptcy, decide to stage Herman Melville's classic 1851 novel in the school's swimming pool. The musical is a mixture of high camp, music hall-style smut, and wild anachronism overflowing with double entendres; the lead role of headmistress/Captain Ahab is portrayed by a man in drag.

Moby-Dick is an 1851 novel by Herman Melville that describes the voyage of the whaleship Pequod, led by Captain Ahab, who leads his crew on a hunt for the whale Moby Dick. There have been a number of adaptations of Moby-Dick in various media.

<i>The Sea Beast</i> (1926 film) 1926 American silent drama film

The Sea Beast is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Millard Webb, starring John Barrymore, Dolores Costello and George O'Hara. The film was a major commercial success and one of the biggest pictures of 1926 becoming Warner Brothers' highest grossing film. The Sea Beast is the first adaptation of Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick, 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. The film was so successful that in 1930 Warner Bros redid it in English and German, under the title Moby Dick, with Joan Bennett taking the role of Ahab's love because Dolores Costello was pregnant at the time.

Owen Coffin was a sailor aboard the Nantucket whaler Essex when it set sail for the Pacific Ocean on a sperm whale-hunting expedition in August 1819, under the command of his cousin, George Pollard, Jr. In November 1820, a whale rammed and breached the hull of Essex in mid-Pacific, causing Essex to sink. The crew escaped in small whaleboats, with sufficient supplies for two months, but were not rescued within that time. During January 1821, the near-starved survivors began to eat the bodies of those who had died. When even this resource ran out, the four men remaining in Pollard's boat agreed to draw straws to decide which of them should be killed, lest all four die of starvation. Coffin lost in the lottery, and was shot and eaten. The captain volunteered to take Coffin's place but Coffin refused, saying it was his 'right' to do so that the others might live.

<i>Moby-Dick</i> (opera) Opera by Jake Heggie

Moby-Dick is an American opera in two acts, with music by Jake Heggie and libretto by Gene Scheer, adapted from Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick. The opera received its premiere at Dallas Opera in Dallas, Texas, on 30 April 2010. Heggie dedicated the opera to Stephen Sondheim.

<i>Moby Dick</i> (2010 film) 2010 film by Trey Stokes

Moby Dick is a 2010 film adaptation of Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick. The film is an Asylum production, and stars Barry Bostwick as Captain Ahab. It also stars Renee O'Connor, Michael B. Teh, and Adam Grimes and is directed by Trey Stokes.

Moby Dick is a Canadian-German television miniseries based on Herman Melville's 1851 novel of the same name, produced by Tele München Gruppe, with Gate Film, In association with RTH/ORF. Starring William Hurt as Captain Ahab, it was directed by Mike Barker with a screenplay by Nigel Williams. The cast also includes Ethan Hawke as Starbuck, Charlie Cox as Ishmael, Eddie Marsan as Stubb, Gillian Anderson as Ahab's wife, Elizabeth and Donald Sutherland as Father Mapple.

<i>Moby Dick</i> (1998 miniseries) 1998 American television miniseries

Moby Dick is a 1998 American television miniseries directed by Franc Roddam, written by Roddam, Anton Diether, and Benedict Fitzgerald, and executive produced by Francis Ford Coppola. It is based on Herman Melville's 1851 novel of the same name. It was filmed in Australia in 1997 and first released in the United States in 1998. The miniseries consisted of two episodes, each running two hours with commercials on March 15 and 16 of 1998 on the USA Network. This is Gregory Peck's final on-screen role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Captain Ahab</span> Fictional character from the novel Moby-Dick

Captain Ahab is a fictional character and one of the protagonists in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick (1851). He is the monomaniacal captain of the whaling ship Pequod. On a previous voyage, the white whale Moby Dick bit off Ahab's leg, and he now wears a prosthetic leg made out of whalebone. The whaling voyage of the Pequod ends up as a hunt for revenge on the whale, as Ahab forces the crew members to support his fanatical mission. When Moby Dick is finally sighted, Ahab's hatred robs him of all caution, and the whale drags him to his death beneath the sea and sinks the Pequod.

Father Mapple is a fictional character in Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick (1851). A former whaler, he has become a preacher in the New Bedford Whaleman's Chapel. Ishmael, the narrator of the novel, hears Mapple's sermon on the subject of Jonah, who was swallowed by a whale but did not turn against God.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moby Dick (whale)</span> Fictional whale, namesake of the novel Moby-Dick

Moby Dick is a fictional white sperm whale and the primary antagonist in Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick. Melville based the whale on an albino whale of that period, Mocha Dick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Baker (actor)</span> American actor

Sam Baker, born Samuel D. Baker, was an American actor who usually performed with Rudolph Valentino, Ramon Novarro, Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Warner Bros financial information in The William Shaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 11 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
  2. 1 2 3 Sala, Ángel (October 2005). "Apéndices". Tiburón ¡Vas a necesitar un barco más grande! El filme que cambió Hollywood (1st ed.). Festival Internacional de Cinema de Catalunya. p. 114. ISBN   84-96129-72-1.
  3. ↑ "Moby Dick (1930)". American Film Institute . Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  4. ↑ Hall, Mordaunt (August 15, 1930). "THE SCREEN". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  5. ↑ 1957 MOVIES FROM AAP Warner Bros Features & Cartoons SALES BOOK DIRECTED AT TV
  6. ↑ "Moby Dick (1930) (MOD)". WBShop.com . Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  7. ↑ Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress, c.1978 by The American Film Institute
  8. ↑ "Moby Dick". www.tcm.com. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  9. ↑ Di Paolo, Marc (2007). "Austen and Adaption". Emma Adapted: Jane Austen's Heroine from Book to Film. Peter Lang. p. 15. ISBN   978-1-4331-0000-0.
  10. ↑ Welsh, James Michael; Lev, Peter (2007). The Literature/film Reader: Issues of Adaptation. Scarecrow Press. pp. 71–73. ISBN   978-0-8108-5949-4.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.