The Old Man and the Sea (1958)

An old Cuban fisherman's dry spell is broken when he hooks a gigantic fish that drags him out to sea. Based on Ernest Hemingway's story.

Director:

John Sturges

Writers:

Ernest Hemingway (novel), Peter Viertel

Stars:

Spencer Tracy, Felipe Pazos, Harry Bellaver

Won 1 Oscar. Another 6 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Spencer Tracy	...	The Old Man / Narrator
Felipe Pazos	...	The Boy (as Felipe Pazos Jr.)
Harry Bellaver	...	Martin
Don Diamond	...	Cafe Proprietor
Don Blackman	...	Hand Wrestler
Joey Ray	...	Gambler
Mary Hemingway	...	Tourist
Richard Alameda	...	Gambler
Tony Rosa	...	Gambler
Carlos Rivero	...	Gambler
Robert Alderette	...	Gambler
Mauritz Hugo	...	Gambler

Storyline

Now an old man, a lifelong fisherman sets out to sea to ply his trade as he has done all of his life. He's not had much good fortune of late and has gone almost three months without a major catch while others are catching one or even two large marlins every week. Many of the locals make fun of him and some say he's too old now to be fishing but he still loves what he does and is encouraged by a young boy who loves him and has faith in him. On this day he hooks the fish of a lifetime, a marlin that is larger than his skiff. As it slowly pulls him out to sea, the old man reminisces about his past, his successes and the high points of his life. When he does finally manage to land the fish he has to fight off sharks who are feeding on it as he tries to return to his Cuban village.

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Plot Keywords:

fish | fisherman | sea | cuban | old man | 

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Taglines:

SPENCER TRACY in his most suspenseful role...ERNEST HEMINGWAY'S story of Heroism...Defeat...Victory!

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 October 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

El viejo y el mar

Filming Locations:

Cojimar Bay, Havana, & Boca de Jaruco, Cuba

Company Credits

Production Co:

Leland Hayward Productions, Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Warnercolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director John Sturges replaced Fred Zinnemann.

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Goofs

(at around 30 mins) There's a white fishing line extending upward from the marlin as it jumps out of the water, which is impossible because Spencer Tracy is sitting at water level. As explained in the end titles, this footage was obtained when a man named Gassell caught a record-sized Marlin at the Cabo Blanco Fishing Club in Peru.

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Connections

Referenced in The Simpsons: The Old Man and the Lisa (1997)

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Soundtracks

"Cancion del Pescador"
(uncredited)
Music by Dimitri Tiomkin
Lyrics by Nestor Amaral

User Reviews

Mediocre presentation of a great story

Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" is a classic literary work but it isn't well suited to screen adaptation. This film has some of the necessary ingredients for success but comes up short in several respects.

Spencer Tracy turns in a fine performance as the titular 'old man', one which was rewarded with an Oscar nomination. Felipe Pazos (as the boy), on the other hand, is a dreadful actor and almost drags Tracy's performance down in the scenes that they share. Tracy does double duty as the omniscient narrator as well, though I don't think that it made much sense to delegate that task to the actor playing the main character of the film.

John Sturges seems to have had to cobble together footage from various shoots and locations, resulting in a somewhat haphazard look. Budgetary concerns were likely a part of the problem along with limitations in technology.

Dimitri Tiomkin's score won an Oscar but I didn't think it was that exceptional. Certainly not nearly as memorable as the scores that Elmer Bernstein provided for Sturges's "The Magnificent Seven" and "The Great Escape".

While some will undoubtedly find the story boring I think that it is easily the best part of this picture. Behind the simple story of a man and his marlin there are layers upon layers of deeper meaning. I could have done without some of the narration, though, particularly when the same thing could have been conveyed with visuals.

In the end, I give the content of the film high points though the film's technical aspects are riddled with inadequacies. It's worth watching but you should be prepared for some decidedly rough edges.