Down to the Sea in Ships

Down to the Sea in Ships is a grand sea adventure in the tradition of Captains Courageous, Moby Dick, and Treasure Island, full of great actors playing interesting characters, with decent special effects for it's time, and an intelligent, sometimes profound, script. Lionel Barrymore plays Captain Joy, the Master of a whaling ship about to be retired. He wants his young grandson (Dean Stockwell) to carry on the family tradition and eventually become master of the ship. But the boy lacks the appropriate education and seems unable to learn. On his last voyage, Joy appoints the new first mate, Lunceford (Richard Widmark) - also his tentative replacement - to the job of educating his grandson. It takes Lunceford a while to win the boy's confidence, and when he finally does, the old Captain seems to become jealous. Then when a boat is lost in the fog with the boy aboard, Lunceford launches a second rescue boat against regulations, and the Captain must discipline him. This dilemma between duty and personal devotion develops a tense situation between the three of them, with dramatic impact that makes Down to the Sea In Ships one of the most poignant films of it's kind, fully in league with those mentioned above. I don't want to giving away any more of the plot, but rest assured that the tension carries through suspense-fully to a perilous climax. The great supporting cast includes Gene Lockhart, Cecil Kelloway, Harry Morgan, Harry Davenport, and Jay C. Flippen.

Some people say Henry Hathaway is not an auteur!Just compare the situation in "lives of a Bengal lancer" and " down to the sea in ships " !In the former the general does not want Cooper and Tone to go to the rescue of his son, abducted by the nasty rebels;in "down..." ,the elderly captain does not want to send a boat to save his grandson lost at sea,much to Widmark's dismay.

Richard Widmark ,still at the dawn of his career ,is ,more than Lionel Barrymore ,the reason why this movie is so endearing.The first thirty minutes are Widmarkless and ,except for the scene at school where the teacher is asked to raise the percentages ,not to break the old sea dog 's heart,the movie does not really take off.

When Widmark is on hand ,he ,as usual ,steals every scene he is in ,and there are plenty of them.He 's delightful as the teacher who realizes how uneducated his young pupil is.

And in the end,Hathaway proves that the general of "lancers" and the old sailor of "boats" were right .This old school takes practice and experience over all any theoretical teaching and learning.This old man won the battle,he made a man of his grandson.

There are two,maybe three Hathaway movies I don't like.I love almost all the rest,including this one.

Like this ? try these ....

"Captains courageous" Victor Fleming,1937 "White squall" Ridley Scott ,1996 (with reservation)

This film reminds me of another great Lionel Barrymore classic, "Captains Courageous-" another "boy comes of age on the sea" film. If you enjoyed this one, you'll like that one, too. Leonard Maltin gives this film three stars and "Captains" four, but I prefer this one, probably because I had a hard time getting past Spencer Tracy's laughable attempt at a Portuguese accent in "Captains."

Although I'm not a sailor, this film seems pretty authentic, as though they paid attention to their technical adviser. Less Hollywood than you might expect from a 1949 film.

A previous reviewer described the ships in this film as Bluenose Schooners; actually, all the vessels in "Down to the Sea" are square-rigged whaling ships In my opinion, few things made by Man are as magnificent as a square-rigger under full sail.

This is one of the all-time greats. Its brilliance is largely due to Lionel Barrymore. Usually seen in supporting roles (he & Frank Morgan being the two greatest character actors of the golden age), he carries this film as star. There are many electrifying scenes, especially his confrontation with Dean Stockwell, a worthy match for the star, not to mention murdering a whale. On shore, the leads sparkle in a high-stakes testing scene. It also documents an industry that is long gone. You can learn a lot about whaling here. (For example, the captain never speaks to the crew once the boat sails; all communication is through the first mate, who can, however, give a crewman permission to approach the captain.)

A sentimental tale about an elderly captain who wants to bring his grandson to sea with him, but refuses to compromise his duty to his ship and crew even though it costs him everything he loves. Lionel Barrymore plays Captain Bering Joy as a sometimes-foolish old man vying for his grandson's affection with his first mate. Dean Stockwell plays the grandson who loves the sea and his grandfather, but is failing academically. Richard Widmark plays the young first mate who has been assigned the onerous task of teaching the boy his schoolwork. The beauty of this film for me is the way it celebrates wisdom, courage, fairness, and honesty in life. In the end, it is the log of a person's life and actions that matter more than their ability to fit any prevailing standard of knowledge or trendiness. Barrymore's character is old, ignorant, autocratic, and uncompromising, but he is also an example worthy of respect that the grandson can value for the rest of his life if he is wise enough to do so.