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Down to the Sea in Ships

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The aging Captain Bering Joy (Lionel Barrymore) hasn't lost a step, but the men who own the ship he sails want the old man to resign. Determined to prove them wrong, Bering goes on one last whaling mission, bringing along his young grandson, Jed (Dean Stockwell), as an apprentice. There, Jed befriends enterprising young sailor Dan Lunceford (Richard Widmark), who has been chosen to someday replace Bering. The old captain initially resents Dan, but a disaster at sea unites the feuding sailors.

Critics Reviews

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Elsa Branden Photoplay A whale of a picture. Rated: 3/3 Aug 20, 2021 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: B- Mar 21, 2013 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Steve D Great cast bad story. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 12/25/23 Full Review Andrew S Top quality "boys adventure story" and character drama with one of the best child actor performances of all time, by Dean Stockwell. Very accomplished in most aspects: acting, script, musical score. Several reviewers on IMDb mention it's a semi-remake of Captain Corageous (which I've never seen) but superior to it. It's chock full of great character actors, though none are given a lot to do; the film focuses on the three main characters. I believe this movie is hard to find, not on streaming channels, not shown on TCM. There is a mediocre video and sound quality DVD of the film; I got it through my local library, via an interlibrary request. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 11/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Good story with a lot of attention to detail in production. Barrymore is excellent as the gruff and dutiful Shipmaster living on borrowed time due to health issues, but given the energy to carry on due to his love for his grandson and his desire to see him "become a man" and take his place at sea. The supporting cast is quite solid and with little evidence of the "ham" acting prevalent at the time. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member Solid high seas adventure, although it's more about the bonding of men from different generations, and it gets fairly emotive in places. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member 2nd best movie about whaling behind Moby Dick (1955). Lionel Barrymore is as close to a real sea captain as I've seen. I still don't know how they made the Amazing Ice burg collision. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member period whaling pic but no captain ahab Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Down to the Sea in Ships

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Down to the Sea in Ships

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Movie Info

Synopsis The aging Captain Bering Joy (Lionel Barrymore) hasn't lost a step, but the men who own the ship he sails want the old man to resign. Determined to prove them wrong, Bering goes on one last whaling mission, bringing along his young grandson, Jed (Dean Stockwell), as an apprentice. There, Jed befriends enterprising young sailor Dan Lunceford (Richard Widmark), who has been chosen to someday replace Bering. The old captain initially resents Dan, but a disaster at sea unites the feuding sailors.
Director
Henry Hathaway
Production Co
Twentieth Century Fox
Genre
Adventure
Original Language
English
Release Date (DVD)
Nov 27, 2012
Runtime
2h 0m