Moby Dick (1930) Review: John Barrymore’s Weird Ahab

If you are looking for a movie that stays true to the book, you should probably just stop reading right now and go watch something else. This 1930 version of Moby Dick is basically a fan-fiction movie where Ahab is a cool guy who gets girls.

It is definitely worth watching if you like seeing how weird early Hollywood was when they first got sound. If you are a literature teacher, you will probably hate every second of this.

John Barrymore plays Ahab, and for the first thirty minutes, he isn't even mad. He’s what the studio notes call a "lovable scamp," which basically means he winks at everyone and acts like he owns the town.

He is in New Bedford and he falls hard for Faith Mapple, played by Joan Bennett. She is the minister's daughter and she is supposed to be with Ahab’s brother, Derek.

But Derek is just boring. He’s drab and kind of a loser, so you can’t really blame her for liking the guy who makes jokes and has a lot of energy.

The whole first act feels like a completely different movie, like Time to Love or some other light romance from that era. You almost forget there is even a whale in this story.

Then they get on the boat, and things finally start to get messy. The ship sets are actually pretty cool, even if you can tell they are in a giant tank of water most of the time.

When the whale finally shows up, it looks like a giant, angry loaf of bread floating in the water. It’s obviously a model, but they really commit to the chaos of the scene.

Ahab loses his leg, and this is where Barrymore starts to do some real acting. There is this scene where they have to burn the stump of his leg to keep him from dying, and the way he screams is actually kind of haunting.

It’s the one moment where the movie feels like it has some actual weight to it. But then it goes right back to being a weird soap opera.

Ahab goes home with his new peg leg and he thinks Faith won't want him because he’s "broken." It’s a classic 1930s misunderstanding that could have been solved with one five-minute conversation.

Instead of talking, he just gets super bitter and goes back to sea to kill the whale. He thinks she rejected him, but she actually still loves him.

The middle part of the movie drags a little bit while they are out at sea. There’s a lot of shots of guys standing around looking at the horizon and talking about how crazy Ahab is getting.

If you’ve seen Forbidden, you know how these early talkies sometimes have these long, quiet stretches where nobody knows quite what to do with the microphone.

There is one extra in the background of the ship scenes who looks like he is just trying not to fall over. I spent about ten minutes just watching him instead of Ahab.

The way Barrymore uses his face is the main reason to watch this. He has these huge eyes that he uses to show he’s going crazy, and it’s very theatrical.

It’s not realistic at all, but it’s fun to watch him chew on the scenery. He’s much more interesting when he’s being a maniac than when he’s being the "scamp" at the start.

The ending is where things get really nuts because it’s actually kind of happy? I won't spoil it, but it’s the opposite of how the book ends.

It makes you wonder if the writers even read the last chapter or if they just thought the audience couldn't handle a sad ending. It feels a bit like Rolling Home in the way it tries to wrap everything up too neatly.

Didja notice?

• The whale makes some very strange squeaking noises sometimes.
• The makeup on Ahab’s face gets progressively greasier as the movie goes on.
• There is a scene where a guy is holding a harpoon that is very clearly made of wood and paint, and it wobbles.
• The way the water splashes against the camera lens in one shot, which was probably an accident but looks cool.

The dialogue is pretty simple, which is good because the sound quality isn't great. You can hear a lot of hissing in the background of the quiet scenes.

It’s a short movie, which is a blessing because the plot is pretty thin. They really stretched that love triangle as far as it could go.

I liked the scenes in the church at the beginning. The minister has this very serious voice that makes everything sound way more important than it actually is.

But overall, it’s just a weird artifact of a time when Hollywood didn't care about "prestige." They just wanted to put a big star in a boat and have him yell at a big fish.

If you want a real adaptation, watch the 1956 version. If you want to see John Barrymore act like a lunatic for an hour, watch this one.

It reminds me a bit of Johnny-on-the-Spot because it feels like it was made very quickly without much second-guessing.

The lighting in the final battle is actually pretty decent. They used some harsh shadows that make Ahab look like a ghost on the deck of the ship.

But then the whale hits the boat and it looks like someone threw a brick into a bathtub. You just have to laugh and go with it.

It's not a masterpiece, but it's not boring either. And for a movie from 1930, that's usually enough for me.