Years later John said that THE SEA BEAST was his favorite film.
It is just the image that John wanted to project, on screen and off -- a hard working, hard drinking, hard loving roustabout. Male camaraderie had an enormous appeal for him. With only one brief notable exception Barrymore acts in the grand old style. The introduction to Ahab is not a spontaneous look at an average seaman, but a formal portrait of a renown profile. It is the first of many well integrated, carefully composed, beautifully lit profile shots.
The source, MOBY DICK, provided no love interest so BESS MEREDYTH was employed to rectify this in the adaptation. Originally John wanted MARY ASTOR to play the role of Esther, but her filming schedule did not permit it. PRISCELLA BONNER was cast. But John suddenly had yet another infatuation and demanded that the role be given instead to 20 year old DELORES COSTELLO. (Bonner promptly sued Warners and subsequently was awarded a cash settlement)
above: THE EMBRACE!
The romantic sequence is of Ahab and Esther embracing. This embrace has become so famous for the simple fact that John kissed Delores so passionately that she fainted afterwards!!
The rewritten plot replete with mistaken rejections and deaths, undying professions of love, lovesick madness, attempted fratricide,, and ultimate reunion is more The Bronte Sisters ala Bess Meredyth than straight MELVILLE. Costumes and make-up also forego naturalism for romantic effect. Before losing his leg, Ahab is dressed in torn or open shirts and in one sequence is shirtless. His obvious flexing and posing seems comic today, but he is in remarkable shape for a heavy drinking 44 year old who had already suffered one physical collapse.
