Two Years Before the Mast (1946)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

John Farrow

Writers:

Richard Henry Dana Jr. (novel)
Seton I. Miller (writer) ...

Release Date:

22 November 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Adventure

Tagline:

The Greatest of All Adventure Classics!

Plot:

The playboy son of a wealthy shipping magnate discovers at first hand the desperate privations suffered by the crew of one of his fathers ships when he is unwillingly pressganged aboard.

Plot Keywords:

Bare Chested Male Bondage | Whipping | Bare Chested Male | Based On Novel | Number In Title

Cast

Alan Ladd	...	Charles Stewart
Brian Donlevy	...	Richard Henry Dana
William Bendix	...	First Mate Amazeen
Barry Fitzgerald	...	Terence O'Feenaghty
Howard Da Silva	...	Captain Francis A. Thompson
Esther Fernández	...	Maria Dominguez
Albert Dekker	...	Brown
Luis Van Rooten	...	2nd Mate Foster
Darryl Hickman	...	Sam Hooper
Roman Bohnen	...	Macklin
Ray Collins	...	Gordon Stewart
Theodore Newton	...	Hayes
Tom Powers	...	Bellamer
James Burke	...	Carrick
Frank Faylen	...	Hansen

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:15

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Completed in 1944, but not released until 1946.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Four Seasons (1981)

Life at sea as it really was, not just the romance and glory

This is a movie to see to get a feel for what it must have been like back in the "good old days" of tall ships and iron men. Lemme tell ya, the cruise ships of today are as far from "sailing" as a toy poodle is from a wolf.

This is one of my favorite movies, Alan Ladd is wonderful as the spoiled rich boy, while Howard Da Silva as the ruthless captain only interested in setting a new record around Cape Horn creates a new high-water mark for callousness. (What's with sea captains in Hollywood movies, anyway? If it's not the bumbling incompetence of Bogart's Queeg it's the cold heartlessness of Trevor Howard and Charles Laughton's Captain Bligh.) The stowaway kid (Darryl Hickman) is a bit over-the-top I admit, but it seems they all were in movies made back then. Speaking of back then, this baby is in black-and-white, and although some of the scenes in the various waterfront bars and in the hold of the ship benefit thereby, the outdoor scenes suffer a bit because of it. And speaking of outdoor scenes, they really didn't put much of the budget into special effects, as the boat looks exactly like what it is, a toy bobbing around in someone's bathtub.

Still, that's not why people love this movie. It's the fascination of watching Alan Ladd's Charles Stewart transformed from rich, obnoxious playboy into deeply affected human being as he watches the massive cruelty and abuse around him. The cruelty and virtual slavery of these sailors is portrayed with an unflinching eye, and you're cheering along with them when the final confrontation unfolds. As someone wiser than me observed, "Going to sea is going to jail, with a chance at drowning besides."