Moby Dick (1930 film)
Encyclopedia
Moby Dick is a 1930
film made by Warner Bros.
, directed by Lloyd Bacon
, and starring John Barrymore
and Joan Bennett
. The film is a sound remake of the 1926 silent movie, The Sea Beast
, starring Barrymore, which uses exactly the same plot as the 1930 version.
, is an extremely free adaptation of the novel Moby-Dick
by Herman Melville
. It implement a prequel and sequel element to the story that did not exist in Melville's novel. For example Captain Ahab is seen as a handsome, romantic hero with a pretty girlfriend and both legs before embarking on the odyssey to kill the whale that later maimed him. Ahab survives the ordeal and returns home to the woman who loves him.
1930 in film
-Events:* November 1: The Big Trail featuring a young John Wayne in his first starring role is released in both 35mm, and a very early form of 70mm film and was the first large scale big-budget film of the sound era costing over $2 million. The film was praised for its aesthetic quality and realism...
film made by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
, directed by Lloyd Bacon
Lloyd Bacon
Lloyd Francis Bacon was a screen, stage, and vaudeville actor and film director.-Life:Bacon was born in San Jose California, the son of actor Frank Bacon, later the co-author and star of the long running Broadway show 'Lightnin' , and Jennie Bacon. He was not related to actor Irving Bacon whom he...
, and starring John Barrymore
John Barrymore
John Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
and Joan Bennett
Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett was an American stage, film and television actress. Besides acting on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 motion pictures from the era of silent movies well into the sound era...
. The film is a sound remake of the 1926 silent movie, The Sea Beast
The Sea Beast
The Sea Beast is a silent film adaptation of the novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville, a story about a monomaniacal hunt for a great white whale...
, starring Barrymore, which uses exactly the same plot as the 1930 version.
Plot
The film tells of a sea captain's monomanical quest for revenge on a great white whale who has bitten off the captain's leg.Differences from novel
The film, just as The Sea BeastThe Sea Beast
The Sea Beast is a silent film adaptation of the novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville, a story about a monomaniacal hunt for a great white whale...
, is an extremely free adaptation of the novel Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, was written by American author Herman Melville and first published in 1851. It is considered by some to be a Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature. The story tells the adventures of wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod,...
by Herman Melville
Herman Melville
Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....
. It implement a prequel and sequel element to the story that did not exist in Melville's novel. For example Captain Ahab is seen as a handsome, romantic hero with a pretty girlfriend and both legs before embarking on the odyssey to kill the whale that later maimed him. Ahab survives the ordeal and returns home to the woman who loves him.
Cast
- John BarrymoreJohn BarrymoreJohn Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
as Captain Ahab Ceely - Joan BennettJoan BennettJoan Geraldine Bennett was an American stage, film and television actress. Besides acting on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 motion pictures from the era of silent movies well into the sound era...
as Faith Mapple - Lloyd HughesLloyd HughesLloyd Hughes was an American silent film actor.-Life and career:Born in Bisbee, Arizona, Hughes received his education at the Los Angeles Polytechnic School. He sought a career as an actor early in life, and his clean-cut appearance and ability soon gained him recognition...
as Derek Ceely - Noble JohnsonNoble JohnsonNoble Johnson was an African American actor and film producer.-Biography:Standing 6'2" at 215 pounds, his impressive physique and handsome features made him in demand as a character actor and bit player...
as Queequeg - Nigel De BrulierNigel De BrulierNigel De Brulier was an English film actor, who launched his career in the theatre stage in his native country and transferred to movies after moving to USA. His first film role was a poet in The Pursuit of the Phantom in 1914...
as Elijah - Walter LongWalter Long (actor)Walter Huntley Long was an American character actor in films from the 1910s. He was born in Nashua, New Hampshire.-Career:He appeared in many D. W...
as Mr Stubbs - May Boley as Whale Oil Rosie
- Tom O'Brien as Starbuck
- Virginia Sale as First Old Maid
- John InceJohn Ince (actor)thumb|John Ince in 1915John Ince, also known as John E. Ince, was an American stage and motion pictures actor, a film director, and the eldest brother of Thomas and Ralph Ince. A leading man from the early 1910s, he also directed and scripted several of his own vehicles...
as Reverend Mapple
External links
- Moby Dick at the TCM Movie Database