Plymouth Adventure (C- or 1.5/4 stars)
In 1620, a large group of religious outcasts boarded the Mayflower in merry 'ole England & set sail for the New World in 'Plymouth Adventure' (directed by the prolific Clarence Brown). This film highlights the hunger, disease, violent storms, & other various hardships that they all endured. Spencer Tracy portrays Capt. Christopher Jones, the Mayflower's skipper who devotes his life (entirely) to the sea, but who has fallen in madly love with a gentle passenger (beautiful but dull Gene Tierney). The other 'romance' onboard involves John Alden (Van Johnson, Spencer Tracy's good friend) & Patricia Mullen (pretty Dawn Adams).
You know, this movie takes several departures from the historical fact. Normally, that's okay because, after all, this is a Hollywood motion picture. But in this case, it just doesn't fly. Too many things bugged me about this movie; and the normally-acceptable historical inaccuracies just tipped me over the edge. Right off the bat, I was annoyed that most of the characters spoke with an American accent, yet AMERICA had yet to be discovered. Another major issue I had is with the acting. Wooden, wooden, wooden -- wooden as the Mayflower, itself. Spencer Tracy comes off best, of course. But overall, no one intrigued me. And the central romance btwn. Spencer Tracy & Gene Tierney is just awful; a romance based SOLELY on longing glances.
Now, not everything in or about the film is bad. MGM's special effects team pulled out all the stops for the towering storms at sea (this film rightfully won Best Special Effects at the Academy Awards). I am also impressed with the construction/re-creation of The Mayflower, itself. It's pretty amazing. But yeah, my admiration of this film stops there. 'Plymouth Adventure' is noted for it being the last film directed by Clarence Brown. Sad to say, he doesn't go out with a bang ... he goes out on a whimper. And really, the fact that this was an MGM spectacle with top-notch actors & a bang-up tech team (great cinematographer, Miklos Rozsa's hymn-infused music score) makes the disappointment of the production even more disappointing.
Back when it was released in November 1952, 'Plymouth Adventure' received some fairly poor reviews (many critics dubbed it a "Thanksgiving Turkey") & it didn't do well at the box office, either. Now, after having finally seen it, I can sadly understand why. Though the movie has its obvious strengths, there simply isn't enough entertainment value on display. And for a film with so many colors (every costume is a different hue from one to the next, ugh) ... this is one of the more colorless films I've seen in some time. No color in the acting, no color in the storytelling, no color at all.
You know, this movie takes several departures from the historical fact. Normally, that's okay because, after all, this is a Hollywood motion picture. But in this case, it just doesn't fly. Too many things bugged me about this movie; and the normally-acceptable historical inaccuracies just tipped me over the edge. Right off the bat, I was annoyed that most of the characters spoke with an American accent, yet AMERICA had yet to be discovered. Another major issue I had is with the acting. Wooden, wooden, wooden -- wooden as the Mayflower, itself. Spencer Tracy comes off best, of course. But overall, no one intrigued me. And the central romance btwn. Spencer Tracy & Gene Tierney is just awful; a romance based SOLELY on longing glances.
Now, not everything in or about the film is bad. MGM's special effects team pulled out all the stops for the towering storms at sea (this film rightfully won Best Special Effects at the Academy Awards). I am also impressed with the construction/re-creation of The Mayflower, itself. It's pretty amazing. But yeah, my admiration of this film stops there. 'Plymouth Adventure' is noted for it being the last film directed by Clarence Brown. Sad to say, he doesn't go out with a bang ... he goes out on a whimper. And really, the fact that this was an MGM spectacle with top-notch actors & a bang-up tech team (great cinematographer, Miklos Rozsa's hymn-infused music score) makes the disappointment of the production even more disappointing.
Back when it was released in November 1952, 'Plymouth Adventure' received some fairly poor reviews (many critics dubbed it a "Thanksgiving Turkey") & it didn't do well at the box office, either. Now, after having finally seen it, I can sadly understand why. Though the movie has its obvious strengths, there simply isn't enough entertainment value on display. And for a film with so many colors (every costume is a different hue from one to the next, ugh) ... this is one of the more colorless films I've seen in some time. No color in the acting, no color in the storytelling, no color at all.