Down to the Sea in Ships (1949)

Director:

Henry Hathaway

Writers:

John Lee Mahin (screenplay), Sy Bartlett (screenplay),

Stars:

Richard Widmark, Lionel Barrymore, Dean Stockwell

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Richard Widmark	...	First Mate Dan Lunceford
Lionel Barrymore	...	Capt. Bering Joy
Dean Stockwell	...	Jed Joy
Cecil Kellaway	...	Slush Tubbs
Gene Lockhart	...	Andrew L. Bush
Berry Kroeger	...	Manchester
John McIntire	...	Thatch
Harry Morgan	...	Britton (as Henry Morgan)
Harry Davenport	...	Benjamin Harris
Paul Harvey	...	Capt. John Briggs
Jay C. Flippen	...	Luke Sewell
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ruth Donnelly	...	New Bedford Neighbor (scenes deleted)
Hubert E. Flanagan	...	Capt. Rumley (scenes deleted)
Connie Marshall	...	New Bedford Neighbor (scenes deleted)

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

pacific ocean | ship's master | pre adolescent | ship captain | grandfather grandson relationship | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Family

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 April 1949 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Capitães do Mar

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on April 30, 1951 with Lionel Barrymore and Richard Widmark reprising their film roles.

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Connections

Referenced in The Screen Writer (1950)

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Soundtracks

"The Rio Grande"
(uncredited)
Traditional
Arranged by Alfred Newman and Edward B. Powell

User Reviews

All great films are about relationships

And this is one of the great films. It is not a story about whaling, though it mostly takes place on a whaling ship and has wonderful scenes about life on a whaling ship. It is the story of a boy's relationship to two men, two men's relationships to to the boy, and the relationship of all three to life.

Lionel Barrymore, in one of his last roles, and like his character only able to move about with difficulty using crutches, raises the presentation to rarefied company with a masterful performance. He is able to bring all the gruffness of his Henry Potter role of "It's A Wonderful Life," but with the humanity he was not allowed to show in the latter. That he loves his grandson with all his heart, and feels great pride in him, is made evident in the endearing shore side preamble. But aboard the vessel of which he is Master, his way is to change into another persona completely; one in which he dare not show the slightest feelings for the boy. As Master, he is second only to God for all his crew, and to this role he must devote his entire soul 24 hours a day.

A vacuum thus develops in his relationship with the boy, and into this vacuum Richard Widmark, the new Mate of the vessel, is thrust. He is of the age the boy's dead father would have been, and has duties and the opportunity to interact with the boy in ways Barrymore cannot, and has qualities which naturally lead him to become the father figure. Initially not interested in the human qualities the boy represents, he is before long won over, and replaces Barrymore in the boy's affections.

Not until a crisis overtakes the ship's company is the alienation between Barrymore and the boy overcome. With Widmark's efforts propelling him, the boy returns to his grandfather's affection and the two are reunited in their hearts, and the gulf that has lately divided them despite their proximity aboard ship falls away like it was never there.

Widmark's performance is very able indeed in his role of importance and some nuance. This is one of his finest performances, certainly one of his most human, and at the end most agreeable. But it is the 13 year old Dean Stockwell who cements the story with his performance of a lifetime. The way he makes his character grow from a boy to a young man during the film, the way he conveys the range of human feelings which is required of his role, is faultless and quite breathtaking.