Not an awful film, far from it, but not particularly great either. It is the worst version as an adaptation and on its own of the brilliant Herman Melville book but still has its merits to make it at least a curio. The photography and John Barrymore's performance are the most noteworthy assets. The photography still looks great, managing to be striking and also creates a good amount of atmosphere. Barrymore is gleefully enjoyable as Ahab and while it is a long way from a subtle performance(despite being a complex character it is hardly uncommon to overact him) it is so much fun to watch him. Noble Johnson is also excellent as Queequeg. The scenery and costumes are beautifully done, and the Moby Dick attacks are shocking and thrilling at the same time, especially the final one. The amputation scene likewise. The rest of the acting doesn't really stand out, the crew in fact on the most part being very static. Lloyd Hughes is rather bland and only shines in his final scene and Joan Bennett while lovely to look at has very little to do and doesn't register as a result. That the characters are badly underdeveloped doesn't help, the crew we never get to know and they could have been just anybody and Ahab has next to none of his conflicts and complexities. One of the main problems is that there is nowhere near enough of Moby Dick, when we do see the whale although the special effects are very clumsy the attacks come off well. Without Moby Dick the film is quite dull and devoid of any real suspense, with a three-way romance that is both one-dimensional and hokey, something that would have belonged in another film altogether, an example of a very loose adaptation being lacking in execution. The dialogue has its moments but too many moments also where it just doesn't flow or ring true. Despite being an adaptation of Moby Dick, too many times it didn't feel like Moby Dick(that's the extent to which it deviates), and this is not intending to come from a "purist". To conclude, this film adaptation of Moby Dick may be poor as an adaptation but as a standalone it's okay. If someone were to ask me what my favourite Melville film adaptation was, the very easy answer would be 1962's Billy Budd. 5/10 Bethany Cox
Review of Moby Dick
