Down to the Sea in Ships (1949 film)
| Down to the Sea in Ships | |
|---|---|
 Chicago theater showing the film | |
| Directed by | Henry Hathaway |
| Screenplay by | John Lee Mahin Sy Bartlett |
| Story by | Sy Bartlett |
| Produced by | Louis D. Lighton |
| Starring | Richard Widmark Lionel Barrymore Dean Stockwell |
| Cinematography | Joseph MacDonald |
| Edited by | Dorothy Spencer |
| Music by | Alfred Newman |
Production company | 20th Century Fox |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
|
Running time | 120 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1,650,000[1][2] |
Down to the Sea in Ships is a 1949 American seafaring drama film directed by Henry Hathaway, starring Richard Widmark and Lionel Barrymore. The supporting cast includes Dean Stockwell, Cecil Kellaway, Gene Lockhart, and John McIntire. There is no connection between this picture and the silent film by the same name; the only thing they have in common is the title and the setting.[3]
Plot[]
Whaling ship captain Bering Joy (Lionel Barrymore) takes his grandson Jed (Dean Stockwell) on a whaling expedition in order to teach the young boy real-life values such as honesty, courage, wisdom, fairness and hard work. However it is First Mate Lunceford (Richard Widmark) who teaches him about life.
Cast[]
- Richard Widmark as First Mate Dan Lunceford
- Lionel Barrymore as Captain Bering Joy
- Dean Stockwell as Jed Joy
- Cecil Kellaway as Slush Tubbs
- Gene Lockhart as Andrew Bush
- Berry Kroeger as Manchester
- John McIntire as Thatch
- Harry Morgan as Britton
- Harry Davenport as Benjamin Harris
- Paul Harvey as Captain John Briggs
- Jay C. Flippen as Sewell
- Arthur Hohl as Blair (uncredited)
Reception[]
The New York Times February 23, 1949 review by “T. M. P.” praised the film, describing the action with relish and concluding: “Down to the Sea in Ships is a good adventure for man and boy, for it makes some points about character building which can do none of us any harm.”[4]
On December 31, 1948, Variety staff observed that the “first half is becalmed“ in thorough character development, but “In the last hour, picture really shakes out its sails and goes wing-and-winging before the wind. The taking of a whale and the rendering of blubber to oil, the dangers of fog and the menace of a wreck on an iceberg is sturdy excitement that serves as a fitting climax to the story of an old whaler captain, his young grandson and of a young first mate.”[5]
Leonard Maltin gives the film three out of four stars, calling it a “good atmospheric yarn”.[6]
See also[]
- Lionel Barrymore filmography
References[]
- ^ Aubrey Solomon, Twentieth Century-Fox: A Corporate and Financial History Rowman & Littlefield, 2002 p 223
- ^ "Top Grossers of 1949". Variety. 4 January 1950. p. 59.
- ^ "Down to the Sea in Ships (1949) - Articles - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
- ^ P, T. M. (1949-02-23). "Fox Offers a Study of Men of the Sea". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
- ^ "Down to the Sea in Ships". Variety. 1949-01-01. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
- ^ "Down to the Sea in Ships (1949) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
External links[]
- Down to the Sea in Ships at IMDb
- Synopsis at AllMovie
- Down to the Sea in Ships at the TCM Movie Database
- Down to the Sea in Ships at the American Film Institute Catalog
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- 1949 films
- English-language films
- 1949 drama films
- 1949 adventure films
- American films
- American film remakes
- American drama films
- American adventure films
- American black-and-white films
- Films scored by Alfred Newman
- Films directed by Henry Hathaway
- Films about whaling
- Sea adventure films
- 20th Century Fox films
- 1940s drama film stubs