All the Brothers Were Valiant (1953)

"All the Brothers Were Valiant" is a very frustrating film to watch, as the first 95% was great--absolutely superb. And, the ending was just awful and completely undid all the good of the first portion of the film! It just made me feel like I'd been cheated--and felt like the writers never got around to thinking of a realistic ending.The film stars Robert Taylor. He's a ship's captain and is returning to port. On arrival, he's learned that his brother, another captain for the same whaling company, has disappeared and is presumed dead. Taylor soon marries young Ann Blyth (who, frankly, is too young for the middle-aged Taylor). They both set sail for another whaling trip and eventually they find the long-lost brother (Stewart Granger). Granger has a fantastic story to tell of a king's fortune in pearls--and it is waiting to be reclaimed. However, Taylor has a job to do and insists on completing his journey. Then, things start to go out of control and Taylor is forced to fight for his ship and his life--culminating in the really awful ending.It's a shame the film ended so badly. Taylor was great and the the whaling scenes were exceptionally well done. Sad, but before the ending, I was ready to give this one an 8 or 9--had the ending not been written by monkeys!! Uggh! What an ending!!!Lewis Stone's last film native girl not exactly native looking good story really good depiction of whaling scene where Taylor escapes and subdues Finch makes no sense as is ending--it ruins the picture

Another commenter mentioned the un-likelihood of a whaler captain taking his bride on a projected three-year voyage.In fact, sailors, a generally superstitious lot, often found women on a ship to be a jinx.Then, too, today the very act of whaling is so P non-C that a lot of people will object to that aspect, rather than concentrating on the fact the story is set at a time no one saw a particular problem with killing the sea-going mammals for their oil.Robert Taylor gives one of his best performances; Stewart Granger comes across very well.Ann Blyth has some good scenes, and some bad ones, but she does them all well.One really attractive aspect of "All the Brothers" is a superb supporting cast. Peter Whitney, for example, has one of his best roles in a very long career. He too often plays a dumb or bumbling character, but here he is a strong person in a pivotal position.Leo Gordon has a smaller role, but he stands out, as does John Lupton, in a larger part.Frank DeKova (whom I met on the set of "Johnny Firecloud") was a superb character actor but who was too often relegated to small roles. He could have been a bigger star, with his talent, but he was recognized by his peers, anyway.The great Glenn Strange and the great John Doucette were aboard, adding their enormous talents and, as so often true in Hollywood, not getting screen credit.Come to think of it, this movie is worth watching just for the great cast. But be prepared to suspend your disbelief, and don't look at the blue eyes of the "native girl."

A good old fashioned swashbuckler. Taylor's acting comes across as a bit wooden at times, but the scenes with his brother and the Polynesian girl are enticing.....reminiscent of Gauguin in Tahiti. A good way to get lost for a few hours.

We are in 1857... The 'Nathan Ross' is sailing from New Bedford, Massachusetts with Joel Shore (Robert Taylor) as her captain for three years whaling trip...Captain Joel Shore is glad and proud for marrying Priscilla (Ann Blyth), a lovely shining little girl who was in love with his brother, Mark (Stewart Granger), believed dead!Mark, not proved dead, is not a man to fall easy... He left his ship full of fever and rum... A little native girl (Bette St. John), with the face of an angel, looked after him and cured his fever...In a lagoon on an unchartered island over an oyster bed that had never been touched since the world began, Fetcher (James Whitmore) and Quint (Kurt Kasznar) offer Mark a line of a fortune of beautiful black pearls 'some like full moons and some like tears'...Captain Mark Shore appears like a ghost on the 'Nathan Ross' and tells his brother Joel that 'half a million worth of pearls were at 12 feet of water, just waiting to pick up.'Captain Joel, knowing that the pearls could bring blood on the ship, refuses to turn back the ship to get the fortune that the native girl dropped in the shallow water while fleeing, with Mark, the furious frantic natives...Mark, forced by his ambition to return for the pearls at any cost, becomes the main instigator of a mutiny on the Nathan Ross, starting a revolt against his own brother...Ann Blyth, whose beauty 'blushes all the whales,' increases the rivalry between the two brothers on the whaling ship...A remake of a silent melodrama made in 1923, "All The Brothers Were Valiant" has all the exciting moments of a great adventure film: a storm braving the fury of Cape Horn, a deadly combat with a monster of the deep, cut-throat fight between whaling sailors seeking fortune, and and exotic romance in the arms of an island sweetheart...