The Sea Beast

I streamed an online version of this that was copyrighted Televista, Inc, 2007. I don't know how close to the original print it really was, but I assume it was pretty much the same as what audiences saw in 1926. If it is an accurate transfer, then, man oh man, this is the worst edited movie in history. The philosophy that guided the editing of this film must have been, if you can have an eight-second close-up of someone's face, why not make it eighteen-seconds instead? More than twice as good! Why settle for two reaction shots from a character if you can have five? Why have a character tell someone she love him just once when you can have the same scene repeated three times?

The pacing is atrocious, with a simplistic, conventional love story that reduces Ahab to a forlorn lover, completely scraps Ishmael, and doesn't even give names to most of the Pequod crew. This is most certainly not Melville's book, and the events that at all resemble the novel don't begin until over an hour and fifteen minutes into the film.

There are some decent flourishes at the end, including an innovative use of Ahab's peg leg that's original to this film and also some decent expressive acting from John Barrymore and Dolores Costello in the final scene. The version I saw also had some pretty sweet percussive music during some of the action scenes, though most of the score was fairly conventional stuff.

This is an interesting curio considering Melville's novel was a massive flop whereas this was a blockbuster success. There truly is no accounting for taste. This might satisfy the curiosity of Melville enthusiasts, but for a general viewer this movie is an absolute bore.