All the Brothers Were Valiant (1953) User Reviews (18)

Great cast, good photography, but hard to believe story

[morrisonhimself · 7/10 · 29 July 2009]

Another commenter mentioned the un-likelihood of a whaler captain taking his bride on a projected three-year voyage.

In fact, sailors, a generally superstitious lot, often found women on a ship to be a jinx.

Then, too, today the very act of whaling is so P non-C that a lot of people will object to that aspect, rather than concentrating on the fact the story is set at a time no one saw a particular problem with killing the sea-going mammals for their oil.

Robert Taylor gives one of his best performances; Stewart Granger comes across very well.

Ann Blyth has some good scenes, and some bad ones, but she does them all well.

One really attractive aspect of "All the Brothers" is a superb supporting cast. Peter Whitney, for example, has one of his best roles in a very long career. He too often plays a dumb or bumbling character, but here he is a strong person in a pivotal position.

Leo Gordon has a smaller role, but he stands out, as does John Lupton, in a larger part.

Frank DeKova (whom I met on the set of "Johnny Firecloud") was a superb character actor but who was too often relegated to small roles. He could have been a bigger star, with his talent, but he was recognized by his peers, anyway.

The great Glenn Strange and the great John Doucette were aboard, adding their enormous talents and, as so often true in Hollywood, not getting screen credit.

Come to think of it, this movie is worth watching just for the great cast. But be prepared to suspend your disbelief, and don't look at the blue eyes of the "native girl."

Vivid and Unusual; a Tale of Honor, a Romantic Triangle, an Adventure

[silverscreen888 · 7/10 · 17 August 2005]

This is one of my favorite stories as a writer, and it has been for fifty years. MGM had many contract players still on its roster in the early 1950s, among them its most used leading men Robert Taylor and Stewart Granger. To pair with them, as a woman loved by both, studio executives decided to use Ann Blyth, their lovely dark-haired all purpose singing and dramatic star and Betta St. John, along with many fine supporting actors such as Lewis Stone, Kurt Kasznar, Keenan Wynn, Michael Pate, John Lupton, Leo Gordon, Frank DeKova, Peter Whitney, and James Whitmore. This is an adventure that might have been played as an explicit-idea-level drama, since it has many dramatic elements. But it is also a complex, dialogue-rich film with exotic locales and actions, the strong music of Miklos Rosza and a story-line second to none. The Nathan Ross is a sturdy whaling ship from a proud New Bedford Massachusetts family's line of such ships. The men who go to sea in such frail vessels hunt the world's largest mammals with harpoons hurled from longboats; they risk dangers from wild islanders, pirates and inimical ships in foreign service; but sometimes the greatest danger comes from their own failings, passions and obsessions. "All the Brothers Were Valiant" was directed by action expert Richard Thorpe from a script by Harry Brown based on a Ben Ames Williams novel. The story-line was first revealed in a movie magazine in the year of release, along with "Shane" and several other soon-to-be-released films, which is when I first read of it. The production itself was filmed in color and I find it to be beautifully mounted. Cinematography was provided by George Folsey with art direction by Randall Duell and Cedric Gibbons and set decorations by Hugh Hunt and Edwin B. Willis. The vivid costumes were the work of Walter Plunkett. Douglas Shearer as usual at MGM was the sound engineer, and this must have been one of his most difficult assignments. The story-line, remake of a silent 1920s film, begins with an exciting flashback. The year is 1857. Mark Shore (Granger) has been reported lost at sea. What really happened is he had contracted a fever and had been drinking. He ended up on an island where a beautiful native girl (St. John) nursed him, and told him of a fabulous fortune in untouched black pearls. They are chased by furious natives, and he somehow escapes. In the meanwhile, his brother, Joel Shore (Taylor) has been appointed captain of the Nathan Ross. He has also married lovely Priscilla (Blyth) who had been fonder of the more dashing Mark all along. He takes her with her on the three-year-long whaling voyage as his bride, as captains frequently did in those days. And after adventures such as a whale hunt and storms, Mark finds his way back aboard ship. he claims the captaincy; Taylor tells him that he is captain of the Nathan Ross and offers to make him mate. Once aboard, Mark then starts angling to excite the men about the possibility of going back for the fortune in pearls, which lie in only 12 feet of water, just waiting to be harvested. What happens hereafter is the fomenting of a mutiny, which at the last Granger refuses to allow to run its course, He and Taylor battle the ship's mutineers and at the last, in keeping with a strange tradition which is practiced at the end of each day when the captain of the ship writes his "log" or journal report, he is able to say of Mark as well as himself, "all the brothers were valiant". This is a complex and interesting tale, I suggest, and one filled with fascinating minor characters and dramatic interplay among the persons and crewmen involved.. Granger is very good as Mark, and Blyth is unusually good for a young actress as the woman they both desire. Taylor is stalwart and capable as the serious-minded brother also. Many of the supporting actors are outstanding, as they must play honest seamen and obsessed mutineers or disappointed loyalists as well. Also aboard or involved were in addition to those already named John Doucette, Robert Burton, James Bell, Stanley Andrews, Tyler McVey, Mitchell Lewis, Henry Rowland and Jonathan Kott among others. I recommend this story as a fine and strongly-plotted adventure; its theme is honor, and its production values both I find to be very high indeed.

Everybody takes their bride on a whaling ship honeymoon

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 10 August 2005]

Robert Taylor and Stewart Granger are the brothers Shore, Taylor good, Granger bad. Stewart Granger has been lost at sea, presumed dead. Taylor marries Granger's sweetheart, Ann Blyth, and takes her with him on the next whaling voyage. Mind you these voyages last two to three years sometimes.

Well call me an oldfashioned romantic, but it seems like you marry the girl do the honeymoon thing for a month or so and THEN go to sea. Granted that Ann is a New Bedford girl and has been brought up in that culture, but yeeeeesh.

Of course Granger's found on the voyage and with Blyth along and Granger wanting to go after some pearls he left behind in the lagoon of a very unfriendly native island, this causes all kinds of complications. If you're interested, buy or rent the video.

Robert Taylor was a most agreeable employee at MGM known for accepting everything they offered him in parts. Stewart Granger also accepted a lot of parts he didn't want to, but that was because wife Jean Simmons could fight for roles she wanted. Either way both these guys got took on this one.

This was also the final film of Lewis Stone who may have appeared in more MGM films than anyone else. Maybe Lionel Barrymore is the only other player that could contest that. He should have gone out on something better.

Really, really good up until the bad ending...

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 17 September 2011]

"All the Brothers Were Valiant" is a very frustrating film to watch, as the first 95% was great--absolutely superb. And, the ending was just awful and completely undid all the good of the first portion of the film! It just made me feel like I'd been cheated--and felt like the writers never got around to thinking of a realistic ending.

The film stars Robert Taylor. He's a ship's captain and is returning to port. On arrival, he's learned that his brother, another captain for the same whaling company, has disappeared and is presumed dead. Taylor soon marries young Ann Blyth (who, frankly, is too young for the middle-aged Taylor). They both set sail for another whaling trip and eventually they find the long-lost brother (Stewart Granger). Granger has a fantastic story to tell of a king's fortune in pearls--and it is waiting to be reclaimed. However, Taylor has a job to do and insists on completing his journey. Then, things start to go out of control and Taylor is forced to fight for his ship and his life--culminating in the really awful ending.

It's a shame the film ended so badly. Taylor was great and the the whaling scenes were exceptionally well done. Sad, but before the ending, I was ready to give this one an 8 or 9--had the ending not been written by monkeys!! Uggh! What an ending!!!

Lewis Stone's last film native girl not exactly native looking good story really good depiction of whaling scene where Taylor escapes and subdues Finch makes no sense as is ending--it ruins the picture

The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful.

[brogmiller · 7/10 · 7 July 2020]

Based upon the novel by Ben Ames Williams who died the year it was released this is produced by crowd pleaser Pandro S. Berman and directed by Richard 'one-take' Thorpe. MGM stalwart Robert Taylor is lumbered with the part of the good brother whilst Stewart Granger has by far the most interesting role as his villainous sibling. Ann Blyth, replacing Elizabeth Taylor, is the meat in the sandwich. This proved to the last film alas of veteran Lewis Stone. Ravishing Betta St. John plays her customary 'exotic' role. Keenan Wynn and James Whitmore were to enjoy long careers and teamed up that year to steal the show as Lippy and Slug with their priceless rendition of 'Brush up your Shakespeare'. George Folsey was again Oscar-nominated for his superlative cinematography but again missed out and the score by Miklos Rosza is suitably stirring. The whale hunt is well done although obviously filmed in a studio tank and the final fisticuff-fest well choreographed. Despite its cast and production values it is alas rather plodding and fails to excite. Granger's description of it as a 'crappy melodrama' seems unduly harsh but he was notoriously dismissive of most of his films. This prickly actor parted company with MGM four years later while the more 'accommodating' Robert Taylor continued his thirty-year long association.

Complicated and Interesting.

[beach-11 · 19 May 2000]

I have seen this movie several times and discover something new every time. One of the best things about this movie is the flashback sequence with Granger fighting pirates Whitmore and Kasznar for a bag of pearls. The rest of the movie explains how he tries to get his brother [Taylor] to them back from the lagoon where they were lost. You will need to see this movie at least two times before you understand all of the hidden plot twists.

Colorful adventure storyline well told in spite of some flaws.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 16 December 2012]

There are far too many villains in "All the Brothers Were Valiant", an update of an old silent where two brothers continue the family destiny at sea. The two brothers are as different as night and day. We meet them over a series of flashbacks of their ancestors writing in the ship's log that has been passed down from one generation to the next, and as one of the brothers is presumed dead, surviving brother Robert Taylor learns his brother had made many enemies at sea. Taking over the vessel, he marries the dead brother's former sweetheart (the lovely Ann Blyth, cast as more than just another pretty face here) and heads out for an adventure of whaling. But like the legend of Enoch Arden, the dead brother (Stewart Granger) returns, and their old rivalry is revealed, Granger gloating over having always taken away Taylor's toys as a child, and vowing to do that now both with the ship and with Blyth.

First, though, there is an adventure concerning pearl diving where Granger explains his whereabouts while presumed dead as he joined up with pearl hunters James Whitmore and Kurt Kasznar who are as villainous as the men aboard Taylor's crew. The extended sequence is like something out of one of Dorothy Lamour's Paramount adventures featuring tropical settings (near the Cape of Good Hope) and the two men being done in by their own greed. But Granger learns nothing from this adventure, and utilizes the men on Taylor's boat to plot mutiny so they can return to find the bag of pearls accidentally dropped into the bottom of the sea.

Rather violent in some sequences, this attractive color production screams "silent movie!" with its melodramatic dialog and the contrast of good and evil between the two brothers. It is odd to see Granger playing such an amoral character, but there are elements of good in him that creep out on occasion to make him less one dimensional than the characters played by such character actors as Keenan Wynn, Robert Burton and James Lupton. "Judge Hardy" Lewis Stone has a cameo in this his last film, having died tragically on his front lawn after having a heart attack while dealing with juvenile delinquents breaking up his lawn furniture. Betta St. John is the native girl Granger briefly takes up with in his south sea adventure. Overall, this may not be a classic, but as adventure, it is lots of fun, and a reminder of the power of nobility.

Swashbuckling Yarn

[evanston_dad · 6/10 · 7 November 2023]

This swashbuckling yarn pits Robert Taylor and Stewart Granger against each other as brothers who have very different ideas about how to captain a ship. There's mutiny, island lasses, palm trees, and lots of that flat, too-bright lighting common to Technicolor films from the 1950s. George Folsey received his billionth Oscar nomination for the film's color cinematography, but I'm guessing it was more for capturing some pretty ocean scenery than it was any artistic decisions.

Ann Blyth gives a sub-par performance as Taylor's wife who comes along for the sea voyage. She's a boring character and her presence teeters the film too often into romantic melodrama, when what we really want is more macho battle of wills.

Grade: B-

Robert Taylor: Master of His Fate.

[rmax304823 · 5/10 · 21 April 2010]

Taylor is captain of a whaling ship in the south Pacific. His wife, Anne Blythe, is also aboard to keep Taylor from getting too nervous. The crew are a mixed lot. Somewhere along the way Taylor's ship picks up Taylor's brother, Stewart Granger, who left home long ago to pursue various unsavory adventures, leaving behind a history of family friction.

Granger relates a tale of falling in with a couple of douche bags, Kurt Kaszner and James Whitmore, who show him a stash of pearls in the lagoon of an island inhabited by hostile natives. Before they can make off with the millions of dollars of rare pearls, the two miscreants are killed and Granger barely escapes alive.

Back aboard Taylor's ship, Granger invites him to forget about any past frictions and join him in getting the pearls. Forget the whaling business. It sounds pretty good to Anne Blythe, who has always had a bit of a crush on the roguish Granger, but Taylor's face is grim as he declares that he, the captain, will carry out the ship's mission, which is to kill whales.

Stewart seduces Blythe and incites a mutiny. That's the kind of guy he is. There is a knockabout fist fight, and Granger changes sides to fight side by side with his brother and -- well, medical discretion forbids the revelation of additional plot details, but, this being a 1950s movie, you can guess the ending.

Interesting to see Stewart Granger in the role of irresponsible and light-hearted adventurer, kind of an Errol Flynn role. Robert Taylor's acting makes a quantum leap in this film -- he manages to suggest two emotions at the same time. As an actress, Anne Blythe had a pretty voice.

The score is by Miklos Rozsa. You can tell from the moment that first signature six-note phrase appears. We're told Rozsa was a musical prodigy. There's no reason to doubt it, but he recycled the same tone and even the same melodies from one movie to the next. Dmitri Tiomkin was also distinctive, but you can tell one score from another. "The Guns of Navarron" doesn't sound like "Red River." But here, if you close your eyelids, you find you're watching "Ben Hur" unroll on their interiors.

I hate to sound too sarcastic about this but it really is a dated by-product of the old Hollywood. It seems to have been ground out like a Sonic Burger. Everyone wears clean clothes. The men are closely shaved except those who look like supporting players and extras who have been instructed to grow beards so they look villainous. The tans are not from the weather but from Max Factor. After a monstrous gut-busting fist fight, nobody has a mark on him -- and this was after "Shane". The scenes aboard ship are studio bound. There's not a puff of wind.

Strictly routine.

All the Brothers were rather Dull

[krocheav · 2/10 · 5 February 2013]

I had waited for many years to see this film, and when it turned up on TCM my wife and I jumped at the opportunity. It's hard to believe that MGM could have turned out such a poor production.

The basic story is interesting, the shots of ships at sea are grand, (albeit too few) George Folsey's nominated Cinematography pleases the eye ~ but it's all let down by a pedestrian screenplay, (Harry Brown was not up to the task) limp direction by Richard Thorpe, and 'by the numbers' acting. Everyone looked as if they knew they were making a dud.

Taylor had turned in many fine performances, both before and after 'All the Brothers': "The Mortal Storm" - a true 1940's Gem (the film that caused Goebbels to ban screenings of MGM pictures in German territories!) "Devil's Doorway" '50 (while perhaps miscast as an Indian, was still very effective) then after: "Saddle the Wind" etc.

As for 'Brothers', he looks as if he were only doing it to honor a contract. It seemed much the same with Granger, who had moments looking like he wished it was all over...not one of his better performances (ie: "Bhowani Junction")

Ann Blyth was worthy of better material, she had very few good moments and even less good lines, and while Betta St John was very appealing playing a native girl, shes wasted as an actress.

"All the Brothers..." quite clearly shows major film making in decline. MGM only a few years on would be heading for receivership.... Strong, story driven scripts, were giving way to more graphic violence and superficial details. My wife gave up half way through. This is one time Leonard Maltin got his review right.

Following the war years, it seemed much of the creative passion had subsided, and fewer people cared all that much. This all pointed toward Television, bringing with it more low brow artificial trends, leading to todays 'comercially stylized' film making.

The terrible print screened by TCM Australia did not help. The vivid Technicolor had been cheaply transfered and reduced to a dull, lifeless shadow of the original. The image focus was soft and fuzzy, the audio was equally poor.

Congratulations though, are due to TCM in the USA, by showing some respect for it's viewing audience. Their watermark (station ID) is supered over the image for 30seconds only every hour or so. This offers the paying customer better appreciation of good composition, with far less overall distraction.

They also seem to have little, or no 'Automatic Volume Leveling' devices on their sound tracks, so there's less unwanted hiss during the quieter moments. When will TCM Australia get it right and offer its paying customers the quality they deserve? Little wonder so many folk I've spoken to, tell me they've cancelled their subscription.

I'm still with it, but if it doesn't improve, don't know for how much longer. As for 'The Valiant Bros" if you're un-demanding, it may help pass or waste some time.

Taylor and Granger fight gallantly to defend the ship...

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 8/10 · 11 September 1999]

We are in 1857... The 'Nathan Ross' is sailing from New Bedford, Massachusetts with Joel Shore (Robert Taylor) as her captain for three years whaling trip...

Captain Joel Shore is glad and proud for marrying Priscilla (Ann Blyth), a lovely shining little girl who was in love with his brother, Mark (Stewart Granger), believed dead!

Mark, not proved dead, is not a man to fall easy... He left his ship full of fever and rum... A little native girl (Bette St. John), with the face of an angel, looked after him and cured his fever...

In a lagoon on an unchartered island over an oyster bed that had never been touched since the world began, Fetcher (James Whitmore) and Quint (Kurt Kasznar) offer Mark a line of a fortune of beautiful black pearls 'some like full moons and some like tears'...

Captain Mark Shore appears like a ghost on the 'Nathan Ross' and tells his brother Joel that 'half a million worth of pearls were at 12 feet of water, just waiting to pick up.'

Captain Joel, knowing that the pearls could bring blood on the ship, refuses to turn back the ship to get the fortune that the native girl dropped in the shallow water while fleeing, with Mark, the furious frantic natives...

Mark, forced by his ambition to return for the pearls at any cost, becomes the main instigator of a mutiny on the Nathan Ross, starting a revolt against his own brother...

Ann Blyth, whose beauty 'blushes all the whales,' increases the rivalry between the two brothers on the whaling ship...

A remake of a silent melodrama made in 1923, "All The Brothers Were Valiant" has all the exciting moments of a great adventure film: a storm braving the fury of Cape Horn, a deadly combat with a monster of the deep, cut-throat fight between whaling sailors seeking fortune, and and exotic romance in the arms of an island sweetheart...

Valiant nonsense on the high seas

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 18 May 2020]

Really did like the idea of the story and who doesn't like a good old adventure yarn once in a while? The cast is an agreeable one, although Robert Taylor was a bit hit and miss for me as an actor depending on the role on paper this sounded like a role that would suit him well. Stewart Granger and Ann Blyth were always watchable, as was Lewis Stone (here sadly in his last film). Richard Thorpe to me was a competent director but at times an undistinguished one.

'All the Brothers Were Valiant' was somewhat disappointing unfortunately, and am taking no pleasure in saying this being somebody that really wanted to like it very much. It is definitely worth a one-time watch and has a lot of fine things. 'All the Brothers Were Valiant' also, considering such a stirring title and that the idea was great, could have been a lot better, with the drawbacks being a fair few and sadly quite big.

Will start with the good things. 'All the Brothers Were Valiant' is a great looking film with the expense showing. Would actually go as far to say that the Technicolor photography in particular is stunning, very lavish and sweeping. Nearly forgot to mention Miklos Rosza as being another interest point, a great film composer with an immediately recognisable compositional style. Which one can definitely hear here in 'All the Brothers Were Valiant', it's arresting from the very first note and is typically lush with some nice grandeur and atmosphere.

It as a film starts off very well and the action oriented scenes are colourfully staged. The bag of pearls flashback is agreed the story highlight. Most of the cast do really well. Taylor's role suits him really well and plays to his strengths, he's on good form here. As is Granger, a nice rivalry contrast to Taylor. The supporting cast are very good, especially Peter Whitney.

However, Blyth fares a lot less well. She has next to nothing to work with, or anything that stands out, and she looks as if she knew that in a performance that doesn't show that much effort. The romantic chemistry came over as bland and watery. Stone does decently and is typically reserved in his cameo but he deserved a better final film and a bigger role. The script is pedestrian and overwrought.

Likewise with the romantic element of the story, which generally after a promising start gets very silly to suspending disbelief level and predictable. Do agree that the ending does undo the film quite badly, it's ridiculous and not remotely plausible. It was like the writers didn't know how to end the story so came up with what was forced upon them. Thorpe's direction gets the job done but too often, especially dramatically, it's undistinguished and like his heart wasn't completely in it.

Bottom line, watchable but doesn't have enough to it to rise above average. If only the rest of the film lived up to its promising start and good potential. 5/10

Inane

[StrictlyConfidential · 2/10 · 27 August 2018]

I'd say that a much more fitting title for this laughable 1953 high-seas adventure story would have been "All the Brothers Were Boring!"

Set in the year 1857 - (I ask you) - What kind of a ship's captain (in his right mind) would actually bring his hot, little wife on board a vessel during an extended whaling excursion where all of the crew members were (obviously) the horniest bunch of sailors imaginable?

In this Technicolor tale - It was bad enough that the 2 rivaling brothers were both far from being interesting characters - But the blasted screenwriters had to go ahead and work the utter nonsense of a "love triangle" into the story, as well.... (Ho-hum!)

This inanity (IMO) reduced this entire picture to the level of being almost unbearable to enjoy.

Killing Innocent Natives Deemed Fine Especially if Whites Wanted Riches

[tr-83495 · 2/10 · 7 April 2019]

MGM lays another egg and spends fistfuls of money on this dud. Almost everything about this film is wrong, so where do you start?

MGM had a stable of stars it could have called on (some in this film) to perform in fresh, new comedies, dramas, or musicals, but it went back to a 1923 property it owned and tried to make a technicolor extravaganza about whaling and mutiny on the sea that makes no sense.

None of the characters have any development and we feel nothing for any of them. There is no real tension in the air. A contented crew would not turn, en masse, on their captain if they were being well treated.

What we genuinely feel is horror when one of the brothers cold-heartedly spears the natives and kills them for no good reason. This was considered to be OK back in 1953. You could kill or maim anyone who was not white -- because they were not people.

Yet our sympathy stays with the natives throughout this movie and we are aghast at how the white people treat them. Times may have changed, but were our fathers and grandfathers so barbaric?

It is part of our heritage, but this movie, in all respects, stinks. The "native girl" who kisses one of the crew could not, in fact, be native, she had to be white, and made up for the part.

In this film, no one is valiant -- especially the writers and producers who concocted this behemoth of a monstrosity and tried to sell it to a unsuspecting public.

By this time, we're very tired of seeing the same MGM clothing, scarves, and other decorations being used again in another film. The so-called glitz is so very noticeable now that you are asking yourself what sound stage did they do this scene on? and what islet of the ocean in California was this filmed?

Valiant rates low in any rating system.

Great

[blh0524 · 8/10 · 20 February 2003]

A good old fashioned swashbuckler. Taylor's acting comes across as a bit wooden at times, but the scenes with his brother and the Polynesian girl are enticing.....reminiscent of Gauguin in Tahiti. A good way to get lost for a few hours.

All the adventurers were handsome

[jgcorrea · 5/10 · 25 November 2019]

Brothers on a whaling schooner become romantic rivals. In the South Pacific islands, two brothers, one good and one bad, fight over the same girl and over a bag of pearls. Directed by Richard Thorpe, stars Robert Taylor, Stewart Granger and Ann Blyth. The music score is by Miklós Rózsa. This 1953 film is a remake of the 1923 silent film that starred Lon Chaney, made by Metro Pictures. Thorpe, who by the way was the original director of The Wizard of Oz, enjoyed a long career at MGM. He directed a variety of ¨A¨ productions like Two Girls and a Sailor, White Cargo, Ivanhoe (probably his best), Knights of the around Table to name just a few. He used to be a good craftsman.

Reverse of the Last Hunt

[searchanddestroy-1 · 9/10 · 19 April 2021]

In Richard Brooks' film, Stew Granger was the good guy and Bob Taylor the heavy; here, this is the contrary. I admit that Granger is here a smooth bad guy, a character to whom you may feel some empathy. I particularely appreciate his role, a very ambivalent character. Nearly one third of the film is devoted, thru a falshback, to tell his story. This movie has the particularity to focus on both Taylor and Granger. A good adventure yarn for me, among the best of Thorpe's features.

Moby Dick with Sex Appeal

[ClassicMovieholic · 8/10 · 6 January 2014]

Moby Dick with sex appeal. Another adaptation of The Pardoner's Tale (men turned against each other by greed) to a different historical context, a la The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Here the setting is a South Seas island and a whaling vessel in the 1850s, with a bag of pearls (especially an enormous black one) standing in for gold. Stewart Granger and Robert Taylor play off of each other well in a Cain and Abel dynamic. Ann Blythe makes good eye candy in a wardrobe of interesting period textiles, as the unfortunately named "Pris." Interesting to see a nineteenth-century set movie involving a woman at sea. Betta St. John is smoldering as her dark counterpart "The Native Girl," in politically incorrect grease paint. Other things to recommend it are Oscar-nominated cinematography, Lewis Stone's last film appearance, a rousing action score, and a harrowing whale chase with a rubber model complete with flippable fluke. Lots of great ship shots as well, and really remarkable art direction. A presumably authentic sequence of a whale being butchered and boiled for oil is a highlight, and has more grit and realism than one expects from these florid, high-seas romances. It seems the beach shots were filmed on location in Jamaica, a bit of a let-down because I was hoping I might catch some familiar Hawaii scenery, but they are beautiful and passable as Pacific locales nonetheless. The film looses momentum a bit toward the end, but on the whole it's more interesting and better done than many of the genre.