page_title: The Sea Beast
section_title: Production
hierarchical_section_title: The Sea Beast / Production
caption_attribution_description: Dolores Costello and John Barrymore in the 1926 film The Sea Beast. The scene is seen on the linked ad for the film.
context_page_description: The Sea Beast is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Millard Webb, starring John Barrymore, Dolores Costello and George O'Hara. The film was a major commercial success and one of the biggest pictures of 1926 becoming Warner Brothers' highest grossing film. The Sea Beast is the first adaptation of Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick, a story about a monomaniacal hunt for a great white whale. However, the film alters the novel's plotline by establishing prequel and sequel elements that are not in the original story—such as the romancing of Esther and Ahab's safe return, respectively—and substitutes a happy ending for Melville's original tragic one. Some of the characters in the film do not appear in Melville's original novel.
context_section_description: John Barrymore signed a three film contract with Warner Brothers in 1925 after the success of 1924's Beau Brummel. Barrymore had always wanted to do a film version of Moby Dick and insisted on making this film first rather than the prospected first contract film Don Juan. In retrospect and because of this delay, Don Juan became the first Warner feature to have the Vitaphone soundtrack rather than The Sea Beast.
  One of the most popular of Barrymore's films, this version extends the story beyond the final battle of man versus whale in a variation on Melville's book. Adding publicity to the film was a bit of early Hollywood hype, unintentional though it may seem: the actress Priscilla Bonner was fired by Barrymore from the role of Wiscasset, in preference for his lover, actress Dolores Costello, and Bonner successfully sued the studio and won a considerable out-of-court settlement. Barrymore exploited the romantic scenes with Costello to their full potential in the film, displaying a "boyish enthusiasm" according to biographer Margot Peters, which made him fall out with Costello's mother. Barrymore drank heavily during the production of the film, and his eyes were constantly bloodshot, with stubble on his chin. Producer Jack L. Warner said "that's a great makeup job" to director Millard Webb, who retorted, "That's not makeup. It's a hangover". The ship used in the film, The Narwhal, was actually a former fighting ship with decks stained with blood from fights. The theme in the orchestral score is "Love's Old Sweet Song".
  Due to the success of this film, an all-talking version was released in 1930 under Melville's original book title, with Barrymore again in the role of Captain Ahab. The 1930 film used the plotline of The Sea Beast rather than following Melville's novel. A German-language version, Daemon des Mers, was filmed simultaneously in Hollywood by Warner Bros. It was directed by William Dieterle, beginning his American career.
caption: Barrymore and Costello
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