Two Years Before the Mast **** (1946, Alan Ladd, Brian Donlevy, William Bendix, Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Da Silva, Esther Fernández) – Classic Movie Review 6991

Director John Farrow’s notable 1946 adventure film drama Two Years Before the Mast stars Alan Ladd, Brian Donlevy, William Bendix, Barry Fitzgerald and Howard Da Silva, and based on Richard Henry Dana Jr’s travel book of the same name.

Richard Henry Dana’s 1830s exposé of the mistreatment of sailors provides Paramount Pictures with a strong action movie and a sturdy vessel for their star Ladd as Charles Stewart, a shipowner’s playboy son who is shanghaied aboard the Pilgrim in 1834 and sets off on an appalling two-year sea voyage under tyrannical Captain Francis Thompson (Howard Da Silva), assisted by First Mate Amazeen (William Bendix). His crew mate Dana Jr (Brian Donlevy) recounts the voyage in a book.

The star support cast includes Brian Donlevy as Richard Henry Dana Jr, William Bendix and Barry Fitzgerald, but Howard Da Silva tops them as the vicious captain Francis Thompson.

Two Years Before the Mast is rousingly directed by Farrow. The film grips, entertains and informs very strongly, and is only slightly at sea in the very final stretch.

The screenplay by producer Seton I Miller and George Bruce is based on Richard Henry Dana Jr’s vibrantly authentic account of his two-year voyage in the fo’c’sle of an American merchant ship.

Brian Donlevy, Esther Fernández and Alan Ladd in Two Years Before the Mast (1946).

The cast are Alan Ladd as Charles Stewart, Brian Donlevy as Richard Henry Dana, William Bendix as First Mate Amazeen, Barry Fitzgerald as Terence O’Feenaghty, Howard Da Silva as Captain Thompson, Esther Fernández as Maria Dominguez, Albert Dekker as Brown, Luis Van Rooten as Second Mate Foster, Darryl Hickman as Sam Hooper, Roman Bohnen as Macklin, Ray Collins as Gordon Stewart, Theodore Newton as Hayes, Tom Powers as Bellamer, James Burke as Carrick, Frank Faylen as Hansen, Dorothy Granger, Kitty Kelly, Barry Macollum, Cyril Ring, Duncan Renaldo, Kathleen Lockhart, Rosa Rey and Pedro de Cordoba.

It was a hit. It cost $2 million and earned $4.4 million in North American cinemas.

Two Years Before the Mast is directed by John Farrow, runs 97 minutes, is made and released by Paramount Pictures, is written by Seton I Miller and George Bruce, based on Richard Henry Dana Jr’s travel book, is shot in black and white by Ernest Laszlo, is produced by Seton I Miller, is scored by Victor Young, and is designed by Hans Dreier and Franz Bachelin.

Ladd and Farrow re-teamed for a similar movie, Botany Bay (1952).

Ladd’s character’s flogging is the cover picture on Alvin Easter’s 2004 book Lash! The Hundred Great Scenes of Men Being Whipped in the Movies.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 6991

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com