The Sea Wolf (1941)

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

"The Sea Wolf" is an old favourite of mine. It was the first time I saw a film with Edward G. Robinson and John Garfield. They both give the best performances here but Ida Lupino and Alexander Knox do well also. It is those four actors who are the most relevant. The film is a reasonably faithful adaptation of the popular novel. The setting, the characters all resemble something from the book. Wolf Larson shall stand as one of the crowning achievements in the distinguished career of Edward G. Robinson. He was finally being offered films from "Warner Bros" that were worthy of his talents between 1938 and 1942. He plays Larson as a truly sadistic, evil, determined but also highly intelligent character. John Garfield is very effective as a hard-edged character who comes to show his more humane side, courtesy of Ida Lupino. She is the only female member of the cast as a fugitive from justice. Lupino doesn't properly come into the film for quite a while. However, once she does, her character is a vital part of the story. I enjoy the scenes between Robinson and Knox as they discuss literature and Larson's biography being written. The set that was used for the ship in question, looks suitably creepy and eerie. I can picture all sorts happening in such a nightmarish setting. Michael Curtiz again puts his stamp upon "The Sea Wolf" with some of the best work of his career. There is some action but it is the suspense and the tension that makes this film stand out. One of the best films from 1941.

Warners in the early 1940s excelled at a number of genres, but it rarely produced works as relentlessly downbeat as this very good adaptation of a Jack London novel. It's grim and pessimistic for virtually its entire running time, and rich in atmosphere--the Ghost, the troubled ship on which it's set, is palpably filthy, leaky, and wet, and its madman captain, the always excellent Edward G. Robinson, is a sadist, albeit capable of introspection and thoughtfulness. But what a miserable crew he commands, full of good character actors; even Barry Fitzgerald turns off his monotonous Irish twinkle for a change and paints a complex portrait. John Garfield, though given star billing, hasn't that much to do, and we spend more time with Alexander Knox, never again as interesting as he is here, as a well-to-do writer who lands unluckily on the Ghost. Ida Lupino, as a thief also unluckily aboard, broods exquisitely, and the camera never captured her better. The Korngold score, not his best, does have a maritime air about it, and Michael Curtiz paces it wonderfully--he knows when to slow down. As an exploration of man's venality, and in its willingness to provide a less-than-totally-happy ending, it goes deeper than many sea adventures from the same era, and it has atmosphere that stays with you for days.

No doubt this film is perfectly watchable, mostly due to its relatively short running time, but yet is a very flawed film. The character's development is very shallow, and definitely it lacked depth to explain the supposed 'love triangle'. There is also no explanation of the why the 'brother' was chasing the villain. Even if there is a deep symbolism on it, still does not make any sense. The captain was a very despicable being, but i didn't understand why the prisoners were waiting him to became blind. They were the majority against one. It didn't make sense, and neither the sacrifice of the protagonist in the end as well. I did understand he loved the woman, but i don't understand why he loved her. Didn't make sense. There is no hint in the film that their relationship was even convincing, to be sincere. The special effects were good for the age, i think. Good use of fogs. The fact that it's a black and white film also helped in that aspect. A watchable film. 5.6/10

This is a powerful and well done film and I highly recommend it.The opening of this film has a real sense of mystery. There are sailors being shanghaied, a wonted woman, and dense fog in SanFrancisco. There's a dandy shipwreck scene, and then "The Ghost" ship appears picking up two survivors -- Ida Lupino and Alexander Knox. It's the same ship John Garfield has signed up for to (it appears) get away from the law. The captain is Edward G. Robinson, who makes Captain Queeg look like a nursery rhyme character! And yet, it turns out that he is rather multidimensional -- somewhat of an intellectual.I've always enjoyed Edward G. Robinson, although I tired of his many gangster roles. So this is a welcome change, and one of his finest roles.Never a particular favorite of mine, Gene Lockhart is very good as the usually drunk ship's doctor. And another non-favorite of mine -- Barry Fitzgerald -- is good, and thank god, not as a priest! Though they received up-front billing, Ida Lupino and John Garfield's parts are clearly inferior to those of Robinson and Knox, although their importance to the film increases during the second half of the film....although the latter part of the film is less interesting than the first half.There are a lot of intriguing aspects to this far-better-than-average seafaring adventure.