Down to the Sea in Ships

Captain Bering Joy, an old whaler, takes his grandson Jed to sea to teach him the trade and life along with it. Aboard is a new first mate: a man who learned from books, who calculates, who argues for science over tradition. The film is not interested in whaling. It is interested in knowledge changing hands: the old man works by instinct, the young man by measurement, and the boy is caught between them. The film puts nobody in the wrong, but does not hide which side time is on. The form is studio seafaring: ship sets, miniatures and hunt scenes built with stock footage. Joseph MacDonald's photography uses black-and-white contrast hard. Henry Hathaway directed. The screenplay is by John Lee Mahin and Sy Bartlett, the music by Alfred Newman. A 20th Century Fox production, it opened in February 1949. Lionel Barrymore plays the captain, Richard Widmark the mate and Dean Stockwell the boy. Widmark was known for villains before this; the work here is an attempt at changing direction. Who it is for: viewers who like classical sea films and generational-conflict stories. Who it is not for: anyone looking at whaling with today's eyes. The film presents the hunt as a skill and never once questions it.