The Sea Lion (1921) User Reviews

Hobart Bosworth Sets Sail

[wes-connors · 5/10 · 27 November 2010]

Brutish whale-hunting Hobart Bosworth (as John Nelson) is no favorite on the docks of San Francisco. The feared taskmaster captain of "The Lair" runs a tight ship, and has trouble finding men to fill a crew. Overhearing two mates discuss impending fatherhood causes Bosworth to recall when he and his wife "Dolly May" were expecting their baby… and, we "flashback" twenty years, for a bitter recollection… Bosworth returns from seafaring, with a cradle built for baby, and discovers his wife's note: "Please forget me. I have found the man I really love. Dolly." So, now we know why Bosworth's a brute...

What isn't explained is how he knows he couldn't be the baby's father. Another sloppy plot development is the changing of the "flashback" incident, later in the picture, from twenty to sixteen years ago; either Bosworth has poor recall or someone decided to make the daughter, when she finally appears as an adult, younger. While Mr. Bosworth frightens away potential sailors, young wastrel Emory Johnson (as Tom Walton) is thrown off his estate, after his father pays off a gold-digging girlfriend.

With nowhere to turn, Mr. Johnson joins Bosworth's crew, where "The Sea Lion" bullies him unmercifully. Hoping to find drinking water, the ship approaches an uncharted island. There, they find fetching young Bessie Love (as Blossom) and wizened guardian Richard Morris (as "Uncle" Billy), survivors of a sixteen-year-old shipwreck. Johnson finds Ms. Love attractive; he tries to help her avoid Bosworth, who thinks she is the daughter of his wife and her lover - but, Bosworth may not know the whole true story…

This was the last of stage veteran Bosworth's self-produced vehicles, and was definitely representative of his "silent film"-era starring roles. There was more variety in the actor's abilities, but Bosworth was most frequently seen as a snarling seafarer. Around this picture's release, he was winding down from a resurgence of popularity begun with a "comeback" appearance in "Behind the Door" (1919). In spite of chronic health problems, Bosworth sailed on into the 1940s, becoming an effective sound era character actor.

***** The Sea Lion (12/5/21) Rowland V. Lee ~ Hobart Bosworth, Bessie Love, Emory Johnson, Richard Morris

"Get aloft and furl the mainroyal."

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 29 January 2007]

The movie's title comes from the nickname of the captain of 'The Lair', John Nelson (Hobart Bosworth) - 'recognizing work as the only creed and brute strength as the one law'. Nelson's bitter nature dates back two decades from the time his wife left him for another man. In a parallel coincidence, businessman Tom Walton (Emory Johnson) signs up for a voyage on The Lair after being spurned by his fiancée. Once at sea, Walton befriends Nelson after the crew attempts to mutiny, though they were provoked by Nelson's hoarding the ship's drinking water for himself.

Landing on an uncharted island, Walton discovers the two lone survivors of a shipwreck some sixteen years earlier. The young Blossom (Bessie Love) was born on the island and raised by her adopted 'Uncle Billy' (Richard Morris) after her mother died during childbirth. Once it's revealed that Blossom recalls her mother's name being Nelson as well, the pieces fall into place for the old Sea Lion. He discovers a Bible diary and learns that his wife was shanghaied away from him, a farewell note manufactured to make it seem that the captain's wife ran away from him. With feelings of remorse, Nelson reunites with the long lost daughter he never knew he had.

The movie comes in at just over an hour, and despite the odds defying circumstances of the story, it's one that keeps your interest. One minor downside is the dark rendition of the print, there's a portion of one scene that almost goes entirely black. Considering that it was made eighty five years ago, it's a small inconvenience to observe in a relic dating so far back. A silent from 1921, it's not the kind of movie you'll find on the rack of your local video store or by cruising the cable channels. However if you keep your eyes peeled, you might find it as I did as part of a ten movie 'Pirates' themed set on three DVD's released by St. Clair Vision. The set contains mostly titles you never heard of before, but uniquely offers some early screen appearances by future stars like Errol Flynn, Bela Lugosi, and Lon Chaney Jr. For silent film buffs, there's another entry in the collection titled "The Black Pirate" from 1926, starring an athletic Douglas Fairbanks.

Good Sea Yarn with Familiar Premise

[zpzjones · 5/10 · 13 September 2010]

Hobart Bosworth was an interesting person. A traveler, adventurer, boxer, actor, sailor. He purportedly went to California at doctor's request for his health around 1908. In California Bosworth was amongst the earliest of stage actors to make movies in California becoming writer, director, actor, producer. Around 1913 Bosworth, already a movie veteran, formed his own production company ultimately producing a 1914 version of "The Sea Wolf". The Sea Lion is a 1921 adventure. The kind that Bosworthh liked to make. It is directed by Rowland Lee. Bosworth leads the cast in "The Sea Lion" in a yarn of a cuckold sailor who after 18 years is reunited with his daughter, played by Bessie Love. The print of this film is awful. The movie, is now in the public domain. Judging by the quality of the film it looks like a 6th generation print of a copy of a copy. It's hard to follow this movie because you can't read the intertitles at times or follow the action. Second and third viewings are almost mandatory to experience what the filmmakers are showing. Even in a messy print the story matter is exciting and one full of adventure. Hopefully a better print surfaces. dir. Rowland V. Lee, Bosworth Prods.

Bessie Love as an Island Cutie

[drednm · 12 October 2009]

Brisk little tale about a brutal sea captain (Hobart Bosworth) nicknamed "the Sea Lion" and the fateful voyage that involves mutiny and the depletion of their water supply.

We're told in flashback that Bosworth was once a jolly fellow, eagerly anticipating his return from sea to his wife and new baby. But when he arrives home, the wife and baby are gone. She's run off with another man. Nearly 20 years later, he holds the bitterness like a shield as he goes about his job.

On the current voyage, a first-time seaman (Emory Johnson) is escaping his family and is the butt of all jokes on board. But after months at sea, the water runs out and the crew mutinies while Johnson is atop the crow's nest. He helps the captain quell the riot and is made first mate. Soon thereafter they spot an island and head for it.

On the island they find some people who were shipwrecked 16 years before. The young girl named Blossom (Bessie Love) is the daughter of a white woman who died on the island after the shipwreck. back on board, while Johnson and Love fall in love, Bosworth's hatred flairs when he learns that Love is the daughter of his runaway wife. But who was the father? Bosworth is solid as the brutal captain, and Love and Johnson make their stock characters interesting. The scenes at sea are surprisingly authentic and add immensely to this simple story of love and hate and redemption.

My copy has an excellent and rousing piano score. Worth a look.

Duly enjoyable, if modest

[I_Ailurophile · 6/10 · 8 August 2023]

The image quality is less than pristine, not even on account of deterioration of a surviving print but seemingly just a result of the available equipment and the filming conditions. There are also times where the plot development is rather blocky and rough, reflecting an unnatural Just So sensibility that we as an audience can only accept at face value so that the tale can continue. This is on top of the fairly straightforward nature of the story, and a sometimes even-handed tone in the direction that somewhat lessens the drama that the picture bears. If 'The Sea Lion' were a prose narrative it would be a rather brief short story, and one that likely represents a more modest side of the author's body of work. None of this is to specifically cast aspersions on director Rowland V. Lee, nor writers Emilie Johnson or Joseph F. Poland, for apart from subjective trouble with tone all their work is broadly admirable. I don't think it's unreasonable to suppose, however, that this is the type of silent film that will not find as much favor with those who have a hard time engaging with older cinema, and it's best recommended for viewers who are already enamored of the style.

With all this having been said, as much as one may him and haw about the particulars, by and large the feature remains well done and enjoyable more than not. The plot is compelling even in its simplicity, and the earnestness of the storytelling is surely also a point in its favor. Though quite simple even by the standards of some contemporaries, I admire G. O. Post and J. O. Taylor's cinematography, and in general Lee's arrangement of shots and orchestration of scenes is appreciable. The production benefited from swell filming locations, and a lovely ship, not to mention some fine sets and costume design; those stunts and effects on hand look pretty good. The acting doesn't necessarily make any especial impression, but I think all involved give suitably capable performances such that I'd like to find more of their movies to watch; even in a small supporting part with little to actually do, Bessie Love is so charming that she rather steals the show from chief star Hobart Bosworth. And commendations are definitely due to artists who contributed, for the illustrations that accompany the intertitles are often altogether beautiful, and an unexpected highlight.

One sometimes sees the silent era referred to as "simpler entertainment for a simpler time," and while this phrase is, well, oversimplifying the matter, it's not wholly untrue. For as discernibly, relatively unsophisticated as 'The Sea Lion' is in most regards, such a description feels more apt than not. Nonetheless, I do like it, and I recognize the skill and intelligence that all involved put into it. I don't think it's anything so special as to demand viewership, and it unquestionably counts among the lighter fare that the early years of the medium had to offer. Still, there is value here on its own merits, let alone as a surviving piece of cinema from over one hundred years ago, and for cinephiles with a taste for the classics, this is a pleasant little nothing to whet one's palate on a quiet day. Don't go out of your way for this, and be aware that it's more of an appetizer than an entree, but 'The Sea Lion' is duly entertaining for what it is.

Not a film for landlubbers with weak stomachs!

[robinakaaly · 7/10 · 14 January 2011]

A Pacific drama of the Blue Lagoon school, the story is no more far fetched than most, and the acting style has to be seen in the context of what was expected at the time, not least in terms of helping the audience understand the plot. The use of flash-back was well handled, and one or two shots were technically brilliant, like the vertiginous view down to the ship's deck from the crow's nest. Some of the sea-going sequences were could induce mal-de-mer, and gave a realistic impression of sailing ships of the time, and the hardy life of whalers. The story itself is many stranded and generally well handled, with some decent performances from the principals, despite excessive religiosity towards the end. A sea-brother to Captain Ahab runs his ship with an iron fist. A sailor looking forward to seeing his baby reminds the captain of his own unhappy past when his wife deserted him for another man. Back in Frisco the ne'er-do-well son a wealthy man is disowned by his father, who has had to pay off a gold-digger of a fiancée (after some interesting high-life scenes). Out to prove himself, the son signs on the whaler, where he learns the meaning of hard and dangerous work. Becalmed, the ship runs short of water, and the sailors mutiny when the captain takes more than his share. However, the son rescues him, but is hardly thanked for his pains. They sight an island inhabited by a shipwrecked sailor and a sixteen year old girl, whose mother survived the wreck, gave birth then subsequently died. The captain takes on these passengers, provided they work their passage. When he discovers that the girl's mother was his wife, he takes against her assuming her father to be the other man. He is about to beat her again when a whale is sighted, and a boat lowered. To protect her, the girl is hidden in the boat, but the captain sees this, and when a storm comes up, he leaves the boat and its crew to their fate. Back in his cabin he discovers the girl's Bible in which her mother had written her story. It appeared that when he husband went to sea, she was expecting. A former suitor, and another sailor, abducts her, leaving her rejection letter to him to be found by her husband and misinterpreted. Realising the error of his ways, and full of repentance, the captain returns to look for the boat and finds it dashed on rocks with everybody in the water. He swims out to rescue them, explaining that he now knows the truth. At this point it is unclear whether the ne'er-do-well, who tries to protect the girl, drowns or not. Otherwise, there is a generally Happy Ending as the ship sails back to Frisco, probably without a full cargo of blubber.

Bessie Love (1898 - 1986), who played the girl, had 142 titles to her credit. Her penultimate film was the 1981 film about John Reed and the Russian Revolution, Reds.

The real name of the Sea Lion is not given, though her wheel was made in London.

A decent film but it has too many crazy coincidences to be taken seriously.

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 11 August 2011]

"The Sea Lion" is a watchable silent film, but it also suffers from the most ridiculous series of coincidences that it prevents the viewer from ever taking the film seriously. The film begins with a sea captain learning that his wife has abandoned him with her lover. As a result, he became a vicious brute--and took all his anger out on his crew. Later in the film, the ship discovers an island in the middle of no where. And, on a planet over 24,000 miles in circumference, this tiny speck of an island has two shipwrecked folks--one of which is his wife's child who was born after she left him!! Talk about ridiculous! And, when he learns that his wife died after giving birth to the kid, he makes it his life's work to make the teenager miserable. However, there are a few surprises that shake his world.

As I said above, the film is absolutely silly with coincidences. However, the acting and direction are pretty good--and worth seeing if you are a huge fan of silents. Otherwise, there are definitely better films out there you should see first.

THE SEA LION, most appropriately subtitled as "The Whales' Revenge" . . .

[oscaralbert · 8/10 · 10 August 2015]

. . . deals with a member of an intellectually inferior species committing genocide against Oceania's Whale Peoples simply because he was born with opposable thumbs, and his victims were not. But, as they say, Brains beat Brawn any day. From their fleets of sea gull spies, the Whales learn the weak spots in the psyche of their main threat, Captain John Nelson, a.k.a., THE SEA LION. That enables them to circle the boat of his wife Dolly's old flame, sending this Bob Simmons subliminal messages day and night via that humming thing that Whales do. Like a mind-controlled automaton, Bob shanghais pregnant Dolly, framing this abduction as an elopement, per the Whale's instructions. Then the smarter mammals stove in Bob's ship, killing him and the rest of the Whale Hunters. The kindly Guardians of the Deep help Dolly and her servant to Sanctuary, but stoke John's jealousy of Bob to such a fever pitch that John burns down his own house! When a freak water leak brings together John and his surviving daughter, Blossom, John does his best to kill this Flower Child. But then he reads in Dolly's Bible about how the Whales saved Jonah, so he spares Blossom's life and swears off whaling forever. Showing more respect for John than the Russians did for Hitler, the Whales allow John safe passage back to shore, where he's a homeless single dad without a job.

Standard

[Michael_Elliott · 28 February 2008]

Sea Lion, The (1921)

** (out of 4)

A bitter sea captain (Hobart Bosworth) does everything he can to be mean to people due to his wife leaving him out of no where sixteen years earlier. On one voyage they happen across a man and a young girl who have been shipwrecked on an island for sixteen years. The captain takes them on board and soon their stories connect. Rowland V. Lee directed this silent film, which has a couple good scenes but the story is so predictable that it's hard to be too shocked or surprised when the big twist comes. The morality tale is also a tad bit silly but there's some good stuff out at sea. Bosworth does the most with the screenplay and delivers a fine performance but the supporting players, including Emory Johnson, are all wooden.