Old Ironsides [Sons of the Sea] **** (1926, Wallace Beery, Esther Ralston, George Bancroft, Charles Farrell) – Classic Movie Review 10,779

Paramount Pictures’ jolly silent classic 1926 pirate adventure yarn Old Ironsides from director James Cruze focuses on the Americans on a fighting ship seeing off the wicked Barbary buccaneers in the seas around Tripoli in the Mediterranean Sea in the 18th century. This lavish seagoing epic is awash with battle scenes, sailing ships and pirates. The young Commodore (Charles Farrell) joins the crew of the merchant ship Esther after The Bos’n (Wallace Beery) befriends him, and Esther joins the USS Constitution in the battle against the pirates.

Old Ironsides is simple-minded pirate sailing ships entertainment, but it is done with considerable zest and flair, and the very costly Paramount production ensues it looks a treat. Wallace Beery, Esther Ralston, George Bancroft and Charles Farrell star as The Bos’n, Esther, Gunner and The Commodore, fitting their roles ideally well. Boris Karloff has a bit part as a Saracen guard and Gary Cooper is an extra.

Also in the cast are Charles Hill Mailes, Johnnie Walker [Johnny Walker], George Godfrey, Guy Oliver, Eddie Featherston, William Conklin, Effie Ellsler, Arthur Ludwig, Nick De Ruiz, Frank Jonasson, Duke Kahanamoku, Spec O’Donnell, Robert Livingston, Mitchell Lewis and Fred Kohler.

Old Ironsides is directed by James Cruze, runs 111 minutes, is made and released by Paramount Pictures, is written by Walter Woods (scenario), Harry Carr (scenario), Rupert Hughes (intertitles) and Dorothy Arzner (uncredited), based on a story by Laurence Stallings and a poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes (uncredited), is shot by Alfred Gilks and scored by Hugo Riesenfeld (uncredited), J S Zamecnik (uncredited) and Gaylord Carter (performer: Film Technology Company’s score).

Dorothy Arzner was also script supervisor and film editor (uncredited).

It is made (partly) in a widescreen process promoted by Paramount as Magnascope.

It is the first film of heavyweight boxer George Godfrey, who plays the cook.

On 19 July 1997 the film was screened free to the public at the Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston.

The Museum of Modern Art in New York City showed a restored 35mm print in December 2008.

The Maine-built ship Llewellyn J Morse was refitted as USS Constitution. But receipts from the premiere at the Rialto Theater went to the USS Constitution restoration fund.

However, the 1886 ship S N Castle was burned and sunk for the film off of Catalina Island.

Beery revisited the pirate genre as Long John Silver in Treasure Island (1934 eight years later.

George Bancroft plays Gunner though he has a tattoo on his arm that says G Bancroft.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 10,779

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