Review: Plymouth Adventure

The story of the Mayflower’s voyage to America in 1620 as hard-bitten, frankly disagreeable old sea captain Spencer Tracy transports pilgrims to the New World (i.e. Plymouth Rock). One such pilgrim is puritan Gene Tierney, whom Tracy drunkenly tries to make it with at one point. Van Johnson plays a simple carpenter aboard the ship, with Leo Genn (as William Bradford, future Governor and Tierney’s husband), John Dehner (who as Gilbert Winslow, narrates the film), and Barry Jones (as William Brewster, who comes aboard with somewhat of a radical reputation- and a printing press) amongst the more notable pilgrims. Lloyd Bridges plays Tracy’s bullying first-mate.

 

You won’t find too many positive reviews out there for it, but this 1952 Clarence Brown (“The Yearling”, “Song of Love”) film is a really easy watch, especially if you like sea-faring films. Spencer Tracy doesn’t exactly give a career best performance but is certainly in fantastically cranky form, even if his 11^th hour transformation into a good guy is far too quick and jarring. I mean, this is a guy who hates everyone, doesn’t give a fuck, and even tries to make it with the leading lady, not exactly with her consent. He’s a bit of a louse for much of the film, and probably not worthy of sympathy to be honest. There’s a real sorrow, bitterness, and despair here that’s interesting, particularly in Tracy’s solid performance.

 

The film also boasts easily the best performance (and role) of pale-eyed character actor John Dehner’s career. What a voice he has, as narrator of the film. I must say, though that Gene Tierney is forgettable and her relationship with Tracy makes no sense. It’s like there’s a couple of scenes missing that explain the relationship and her later actions. However, Leo Genn proves that although he’s a poor man’s James Mason, there’s nothing necessarily wrong with being a poor man’s James Mason. A very sturdy performance from him. Although Van Johnson all but disappears at the climax, he’s well-cast here as essentially the film’s most likeable and relatable character. He has a sincerity and decency to him, albeit with a touch of bitterness that makes him stand out from most secondary leads in this sort of thing. Perhaps the most entertaining performance is given by a seedy Lloyd Bridges, who makes for an amusing, bare-chested bully boy. Barry Jones rounds out the mostly fine cast with a lively little turn.

 

The idea of Tracy shipping poor people to a new land and quickly encountering changes in those plans is a bit similar to the later “Voyage of the Damned”, based on another event in history, though this is obviously the lesser of the two films. Still, this story of The Mayflower is an important one in American history and a pretty irresistible one, really. This film’s biggest strength is in the action department. As a seafaring adventure, the film is definitely well-done, with a pretty good display of stormy seas very well-shot in Technicolour by William Daniels (“Camille”, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, “Winchester ‘73”). I was really pleasantly surprised at how good the FX/action scenes were in this, really convincing (And Oscar-winning, to boot). The film definitely gets across how arduous sea travel is, how easy it is to fall ill etc. I can’t speak to how accurate this is historically (I’ve read that the depiction of the Captain is scandalously inaccurate, though), but I can certainly say that it’s not stuffy or dull, as it’s more of a seafaring adventure than historical drama. Some of the period costuming looks a tad goofy, though.

 

This is a good, if imperfect film, but the story isn’t bad and the FX and action are top-notch. There’s a strong music score by Miklos Rozsa (“Double Indemnity”, “Spellbound”, “The Asphalt Jungle”) as well, incorporating ‘Green Sleeves’ if I’m not mistaken. Based on an Ernest Gebler (“Hoffman”) novel, the screenplay is by Helen Deutsch (“National Velvet”, “Valley of the Dolls”).

 

Rating: B-