Plymouth Adventure

A great movie to watch for the Thanksgiving holiday! It was a perfect blend of history and entertainment, not to mention excellent acting from Spencer Tracy as Captain Christopher Jones, and Van Johnson as John Alden. (I would have liked more scenes with him and Priscilla Mullins, played by Dawn Addams.)

The movie shows the many hardships the Pilgrims went through, not to mention the difficulties getting started in the first place, like William Brewster (Barry Jones) having to hide from the authorities wanting to arrest him. At the same time, it adds a bit of romantic tragedy, as the tough talking, hard drinking captain falls for the married Dorothy Bradford (Gene Tierney) and she returns the feeling, though still caring for her husband William (Leo Genn), a good man who too often puts duty before his wife. This story was added to give one possible answer to the question of what really happened to Dorothy Bradford.

A movie worth watching.

It tells the Mayflower odyssey , it was the ship that transported the first English Separatists , known today as the Pilgrims , from Plymouth to the New World in 1620 , a very dangerous voyage carried out by a brave passenger list that made the 96-day storm-filled crossing . There were 102 passengers , the majority of them becoming the settlers of Plymouth Colony in what is now Massachusetts and the crew is estimated to have been about 30, but the exact number is unknown . The pilgrims are looking for a land where they can worship according to their beliefs . Captained by Captain Christopher Jones (Spencer Tracy) who piloted and helped the valiant pilgrims , he stayed at the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts , waiting for favorable weather to return home to England on the "Mayflower" . This voyage has become an iconic story in some of the earliest annals of American history , with its story of death and of survival in the harsh New England winter environment . About half of these emigrants died in the first Winter . Many Americans can trace their ancestry back to one or more of these individuals who, 'Saints' and 'Strangers' together, would become known as the Pilgrims . Thirteen of the eighteen servants listed were attached to Leiden families, the other five were families who boarded in London . Four of those travelers listed were small children , to be classed as indentured servants . Other notorious pilgrims were John Alden (Van Johnson) , William Bradford (Leo Genn) , Gilbert Winslow (John Dehner) , Edward Winslow (Lowell Gilmore) , and William Brewster (Barry Jones) . Luckily , it took place the culmination of the voyage in the signing of the Mayflower Compact was an event which established a rudimentary form of democracy, with each member contributing to the welfare of the community . The Native Americans living in the area , the Patuxet, were totally wiped out by a series of epidemics between 1616-1619 caught from English fishermen who landed regularly in the area . Indian tribes ran away and fell ill , and then the colonialists built in the cleared area where the Indian village stood and utilized the cleared farm land that the tribe had abandoned . However , actually , after landing in Massachusetts , the colonists tried three times to sail southward to Virginia, but was driven back by storms .

Interesting historical film about the famous feat based on the novel by Ernest Gebler with screenplay by Helen Deutsch , describing trials and tribulations of the risked sea journey , a fundamental event in American history . It packs emotion , drama , love stories and historical happenings . Very good cast plenty of familiar Hollywood faces as Spencer Tracy who has an ill-starred romance with the wife of a religious fanatic well played by Gene Tierney , both of whom had an affair that lasted for the duration of filming . Support cast is frankly excellent , such as : Leo Genn , John Dehner , Barry Jones , Dawn Addams , Lloyd Bridges , Paul Cavanagh and Van Johnson , though filmmaker Clarence Brown later said casting him was a huge mistake . In addition , other uncredited players : John Dierkes , John Alderson , Murray Matheson and Rhys Williams . The film is well based on historical events , though including some fictitious incidents ; as Dorothy Bradford did indeed fall overboard and was drowned while husband William was exploring for a site for the establishment of Plymouth . For once , the colonists are correctly shown building framed houses, and not log cabins as is commonly supposed . Decent production design by prolific Cedric Gibbons , though most film is set on the vessel , being some claustrophobic . Colorful cinematography in Technicolor by William Daniels , Greta Garbo's regular cameraman . Evocative and thrilling musical score by Miklos Rozsa .

The motion picture nicely produced by Dore Schary was professionally directed - though with no enthusiasm- by Clarence Brown . Clarence studied and learned with French director Maurice Tourneur . He directed several actors in Oscar-nominated performances. During his career Brown directed or produced more than 50 widely-acclaimed full-length films , many during his long association with prestigious MGM and worked with many of the industry's most illustrious performers . Clarence got a lot of successes , such as : Anna Karenina , Maria Walewska , Intruder in the dust , The yearling , National velvet , Song of Love , among others .

Where is the masterpiece American film on this dramatic voyage and settlement of the founders of our democracy? Plymouth Adventure, the best of its kind, has many of the virtues of great American studio work (convincing mise en scene, great ship, vivid action [the storm], fine acting [try to ignore the hobbled accents], and smooth story continuity) and can be enjoyed because of all that, but it never conveys a sense of the agonized desperation and profound spiritual quest of the dissenters. Perhaps Gene Tierney is just too beautfiul, perhaps the costumes are just too sparkling, and certainly the tragic affair with the Captain is better suited to a Douglas Sirk melodrama. For a different account, one can view Mayflower (Anthony Hopkins version), but that errs on the side of political correctness, and drab plotting, and tub-sails a low-budget toy Mayflower. We await the great film about the adventure of these heroic common folks to whom we owe so much.

Being Italian, I don't know much about the history of the Pilgrim Fathers. "Plymouth Adventure" appears to be a correct, somewhat non-exciting tale of their voyage to America, with all their sufferings and dismay. A patriotic aura pervades the movie, but exceeding rhetoric is carefully avoided: this is a merit of the film. The photography and the costumes are beautiful, the acting is high-standard. The great Spencer Tracy was fifty-two years old when "Plymouth Adventure" was made, and, unfortunately, he looked seventy. Despite his huge talent, he was definitely too old for the role of the captain of the Mayflower. A main theme in the plot is that the Pilgrims survive during the first terrible winter in America thanks to the decisive help of the rough captain. In fact, despite his strong dislike for the Pilgrims, he decides not to abandon them to sure death, because he loves Dorothy Bradford - Gene Tierney. Well, as a proud fan of Gene Tierney, the idea that her fantastic beauty and loveliness could be so crucial in the development of human history sounds perfectly reasonable to me...

"Plymouth Adventure" somehow manages to avoid being corny or sappy and also avoids being religiously preachy. By sticking to straightforward storytelling it gets the job done in a dignified way that retains your interest as the story unfolds.

Spencer Tracy is too old and craggy for the romantic scenes with a much younger actress, but utterly dominates the film in a constructive manner through extreme talent and skill. He manages to dominate the film without being noisy or over-acting. As usual an amazing demonstration of acting skill by Tracy.

Van Johnson, basically a humble, kindly sort of actor is appropriately cast as a poor man in the hard-working carpentry profession. Leo Genn of the golden voice and saintly countenance is well cast as a gentle, religious-minded leader. Actually Genn's voice is beyond golden- I would describe his voice as 24-carat gold or maybe even platinum. Gene Tierney, a complex and tragic beauty and fine actress, is cast as what else... you guessed it, her character is beautiful and tragic. And on and on I could comment about the triumphs of good casting that add immeasurably to the success of "Plymouth Adventure".

The script is not very dynamic, and while not intense in the movie-drama sense, manages to avoid all the maudlin or preachy traps that it could have fallen into. So, while being far from great, this movie is watchable and generally succeeds in my opinion.