The Sea Beast **** (1926, John Barrymore, Dolores Costello, George O’Hara) – Classic Movie Review 12,693

Warner Bros’ 1926 movie The Sea Beast is the famous silent film of Herman Melville’s book Moby-Dick, boasting exciting action scenes and John Barrymore’s storming performance as Captain Ahab. It is vintage silent-movie stuff. 

Director Millard Webb’s 1926 Warner Bros black and white movie The Sea Beast is the famous silent film of the 1851 Herman Melville book Moby Dick, whose somewhat watery script is easily saved by some exciting action scenes and John Barrymore’s storming performance as Captain Ahab. It is vintage silent-movie stuff that had queues round the block back in 1926.

The audiences of the day were amazed by the horrific amputation scene after Ahab is bitten by the great white whale Moby Dick and what was then the longest screen kiss to date, taking place between heroine Esther (Dolores Costello) and Ahab, who bizarrely ends up a happy man in the arms of Esther – and planning to wed her.

The film was Warner Bros’ highest grossing film of the year, taking a box office of $938,000 in worldwide rentals against a budget $503,000.

The film invents prequel and sequel scenes not in the original story – focusing on Ahab’s romancing of Esther in the prequel scenes and Ahab’s safe return in sequel scenes – and substitutes a happy ending for Melville’s tragic one. There are also some new characters in the film not in Melville’s novel. Forgotten matinée idol actor George O’Hara plays the other key role of Barrymore’s evil half-brother Derek Ceeley.

The film survives intact and is freely available.

Barrymore re-creates the role in the 1930 sound version, Moby Dick, using The Sea Beast’s plot instead of following Melville’s novel.

The novel finally got a proper adaptation when Gregory Peck played Ahab in the 1956 Moby Dick.

It was a pet project of Barrymore, who signed a three-film contract with Warner Bros in 1925. But he was already drinking heavily during production, his eyes were bloodshot, and he had chin stubble.

Barrymore fired Priscilla Bonner from the role of Wiscasset and replaced her with his lover Dolores Costello, exploiting the romantic scenes to the max. Bonner sued the studio and won a sizeable out-of-court settlement. Barrymore and Costello married in 1928, had two children, including John Drew Barrymore, but divorced in 1934, partly because of Barrymore’s increasing alcoholism. Drew Barrymore is their grand-daughter.

The cast are John Barrymore as Captain Ahab Ceeley, Dolores Costello as Esther Harper, George O’Hara as Derek Ceeley, Mike Donlin as Flask, Sam Baker as Queequeg, Sōjin Kamiyama as Fedallah, George Berrell as Perth, Sam Allen as Captain, Frank Nelson as Stubbs, Mathilde Comont as Mula, James O Barrows as Reverend Harper, Vadim Uraneff as Pip, Frank Hagney as Daggoo, and Joyzelle Joyner as dancer in prologue.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,693

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