This classic version about known novel by Jack London deals about two young people, a writer named Van Weiden(Alexander Knox, in his screen debut) and a beautiful girl(Ida Lupino, a future filmmaker) escaped from reformatory. They're shipwrecked and picked up aboard by a ship called ¨The Ghost¨ commanded by captain Wolf Larsen(extraordinary Edward G Robinson), a tough man with a meglomaniacal ego and a gaze piercing. Larsen is a cruel sailor but also is thoughtful and clever reader of Darwin,Shakesphere, Nietzsche and Milton (Lost time). They're forced into working and suffering humiliation and punishments .They become accidental passengers confronting wits and facing off cruel sailors, such as a brutal cooker.
This interesting movie packs noisy drama, ships adventure, and stunning performances. Intelligent character studio and stunningly playing the tale. Edward G Robinson is excellent as the maniacal captain obsessed to track down his brother. Alexander Knox is magnificent as his nemesis. Special mention to Gene Lockhart as the good but drunk medic, John Garfield as the sailor who tries to rally his shipmates into resisting against malevolent captain and Barry Fitzgerald as the nasty informer cooker. Shot completely in studio with abundant fog and scale models though looks filmed in exteriors. The motion picture is well directed by Michael Curtiz(1888-1962).He's a Hungarian-born became one of the most reliable and the finest directors of Hollywood's golden years who extracted performances from his stars that have left some of the most indelible impressions on our minds such as Edward G Robinson ,and directed several classic films : Casablanca, Captain Blood, Robin Hood, The charge of thee Light Brigade, among them. Another adaptation about the Jack London novel are the following, with various titles, as ¨Barricade¨, version (1958)with Barry Sullivan, Italian rendition(1975) with Chuck Connors and Barbara Bach, ¨Wolf Larsen¨ with Stacy Keach and for TV with Charles Bronson as Larsen and Chistopher Reeve as Van Weiden and directed by Michael Anderson. The motion picture will like to seafaring adventure genre buffs and Edward G Robinson fans.
This interesting movie packs noisy drama, ships adventure, and stunning performances. Intelligent character studio and stunningly playing the tale. Edward G Robinson is excellent as the maniacal captain obsessed to track down his brother. Alexander Knox is magnificent as his nemesis. Special mention to Gene Lockhart as the good but drunk medic, John Garfield as the sailor who tries to rally his shipmates into resisting against malevolent captain and Barry Fitzgerald as the nasty informer cooker. Shot completely in studio with abundant fog and scale models though looks filmed in exteriors. The motion picture is well directed by Michael Curtiz(1888-1962).He's a Hungarian-born became one of the most reliable and the finest directors of Hollywood's golden years who extracted performances from his stars that have left some of the most indelible impressions on our minds such as Edward G Robinson ,and directed several classic films : Casablanca, Captain Blood, Robin Hood, The charge of thee Light Brigade, among them. Another adaptation about the Jack London novel are the following, with various titles, as ¨Barricade¨, version (1958)with Barry Sullivan, Italian rendition(1975) with Chuck Connors and Barbara Bach, ¨Wolf Larsen¨ with Stacy Keach and for TV with Charles Bronson as Larsen and Chistopher Reeve as Van Weiden and directed by Michael Anderson. The motion picture will like to seafaring adventure genre buffs and Edward G Robinson fans.