I Conquer the Sea!
Cast & Crew
Victor Halperin
Steffi Duna
Stanley Morner
Douglas Walton
George Cleveland
Johnnie Pirrone Jr.
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
A small Newfoundland whaling community holds a church service for lost whalers. In the church yard lie the gravestones of those who have drowned while whaling. The church walls are covered with murals depicting the whaling experience. When the Gonzales family, Portuguese immigrants, cross the church door, one of the whalers forbids them entry, until Tommy, a master harpoonist who loves daughter Rosita Gonzales, allows them to enter. Rosita's younger brother Pedro is a cripple on crutches. The preacher and Tommy's older brother Leonard, a doctor, promise to help Pedro walk again. Tommy and Rosita become engaged, but when Leonard heals Pedro, she falls in love with him. Tommy then loses his arm in a whaling accident. His grief is compounded when, at their engagement party, Rosita breaks with him. Tommy, in a self-sacrificing mood, goes out on a whaling expedition, even though he has lost his good harpooning arm. During the expedition, Tommy successfully harpoons a whale, but when its mate arrives to rescue it, the mate capsizes the boat. Leonard and Tommy nearly drown and are stranded on a bed of rocks. While Leonard swims to shore for help, Tommy relives his life and dreams of happiness with Rosita. Realizing he loves Leonard even more than he loves Rosita, Tommy decides to kill himself so that they may be happy, and allows himself to drown. During his memorial service, Tommy's spirit appears in the church to give his blessing to the new couple.
Director
Victor Halperin
Cast
Steffi Duna
Stanley Morner
Douglas Walton
George Cleveland
Johnnie Pirrone Jr.
Fred Warren
Anna De Linsky
Charles Mcmurphy
Frederick Peters
Tiny Skelton
Olin Francis
Albert Russell
Dorothy Kildaire
Renee Daniels
James Hertz
Elaine Deane
Joan Deane
Margaret Woodburn
Crew
Douglas Briggs
Richard Carroll
George Cleveland
Leander De Cordova
G. P. Costello
Edward Halperin
John Hicks
Howard Higgin
Arthur Kay
Rollo Lloyd
Arthur Martinelli
Abe Meyer
Leigh Smith
F. Paul Sylos
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Only the first reel of this film was available for viewing. The remainder of the plot, after the preacher and Leonard promise to help Pedro walk again, was based on information in reviews. The working title of this film was Thrill of a Century. This was the Halperin brothers' first production. Portions of this film were shot at Laguna Beach, CA. According to an onscreen foreword, I Conquer the Sea! was filmed on location in Newfoundland and was dedicated "to the last of the heroic whalers of Newfoundland, Canada-where the action of this story is laid-and to our intrepid staff and crew who spent one long hazardous year 'ahunting whales' to complete this production." The film opens with three Biblical quotes: Psalms 104:26, "There is that Leviathan"; Psalms 89:9, "Thou stillest the waves"; and Jonah 2:10, "Jonah upon the dry land." Stanley Morner appears in this film courtesy of M-G-M. According to a news item in Variety in 1951, writer Richard Carroll claimed that this film was based on his story "Storm in Their Hearts." The news item also states that Carroll was suing Favorite Films Corp., Nu-Art Films and Joan of Arch Pictures for distribution rights to the film. Carroll claimed that, through an agreement with Academy Pictures, all rights to the film reverted to him in 1946. Carroll also claimed that the film's alternate title was The Sea Bandit. The outcome of the suit is undetermined.
