Herman Melville's 'Moby Dick' is famous for nothing if not being overly long and self-indulgently verbose. In adapting the tale to film, 'The sea beast' nonetheless dares to go a step further by altering and adding narrative elements. The core of the feature remains a sea-faring adventure, for sure, though while the additions do make for a more well-rounded experience as movie-goers are accustomed to, I'm just not sure the trimmings were necessary. This is one issue with this 1926 picture; another is that surviving prints would seem to have been so degraded before they were preserved digitally that the very image to greet us is too often substantially washed out, obliterating detail. This is true for footage of the characters or environment, but it's even more noticeable when the camera focuses on text - a passage from a book, a handwritten note, or even intertitles - and the visuals are so diminished that it's almost if not entirely impossible to read that text. Even though much can be inferred from the surrounding footage that is suitably intact, that reduced integrity means that we simply lose some plot.
That's the bad news. The good news is that 'The sea beast' is otherwise an outstanding, somewhat grand production. This is in no small part to the credit of star John Barrymore, whose stardom and pull with the studio clearly influenced filming. True, he accordingly had some help, given a little bit of alcoholism, a little bit of unmanaged personal appearance, and a relationship with co-star Dolores Costello. Yet in the lead role of Ahab Barrymore most definitely illustrates marvelous range, nuance, and physicality, giving a great performance that allows the viewer to feel his every emotion and twinge of pain very keenly. He's hardly alone, of course, and other cast members give able displays of acting to complement and complete the experience, including certainly Costello and George O'Hara - but there's no mistaking who is chiefly in the spotlight.
This is to say nothing of superb production design; every small facet that helps to build a feature looks swell. Costume design, hair and makeup, and set design and decoration all rather impress; as if Barrymore's practiced skills weren't enough, or his personal habits, the work put into accentuating Ahab's transformation paid off handsomely. Director Millard Webb demonstrates a sharp eye in arranging some shots and scenes, making the saga all the more vivid and engaging. Rupert Hughes' contribution as editor is quite fine. The adapted screenplay concocted between Hughes, Bess Meredyth, and Jack Wagner is a bit more thorny. The effort to give the tale a more familiar narrative structure does serve its purpose well, with the trade-off that the movie may feel a tad overstuffed. The augmented human drama does pair well with the more robust moments of adventure - though in a picture of a hair over 2 hours, sometimes it seems like the latter is deemphasized. All the pieces do come together reasonably well; I'm just unsure if it was the best possible cinematic interpretation of Melville's classic in the 1920s. This is most specifically true not least of all nearer the end when the two components are intermittently and unconvincingly woven together until the screenplay gives the tale a questionable ending that Melville did not.
If all these are too many words, however - if it sounds like I'm nitpicking - then let me be more succinct. I think 'The sea beast' is very enjoyable, communicating a compelling story with considerable detailed labor from the crew and a terrific lead performance. I also think the adaptation's grasp exceeded its reach, as the two main threads of its narrative do not entirely gel, and the inclusion of each limits what both could otherwise be. Its strengths are welcome and gratifying; its weaknesses are unfortunate. The film's value only just outweighs its detractions such that I'd give this a firm recommendation for any who come across it; would that it were deserving of higher enthusiasm.
Not a feature for those who already have difficulties with silent films - but for anyone else, this still holds up fairly well even all this time later.
