Wed 25 Feb 2015
A Movie Review by Dan Stumpf: OMOO OMOO THE SHARK GOD (1948).
Posted by Steve under Films: Drama/Romance , Reviews[19] Comments
OMOO OMOO THE SHARK GOD. Screen Guild Productions as Lippert Pictures Inc., 1948. Ron Randell, Devera Burton, Trevor Bardette, Pedro de Cordoba, Richard Benedict, Mate Richards, Michael Whalen, Rudy Robles. Written & directed by Leon Leonard.
Two disparate books come together in one desperate film in Omoo Omoo the Shark God. Herman Melville is one of those Great Authors whose power has always…. well has always escaped me somehow. I labored through Moby Dick in college under duress, and fifty years later found Billy Budd a crashing bore. I can enjoy Conrad, Marlowe, Shakespeare and even de Quincey, but I find reading Melville akin to eating Brussels sprouts. Blame my literary taste buds.
At the other end of the spectrum, I thoroughly enjoyed a recent book called Talk’s Cheap, Action’s Expensive: The Films of Robert L. Lippert (Bear Manor Media, 2014) by Mark Thomas McGee. For those unfamiliar, Lippert was a producer of dubious ethics and even dubiouser taste, releasing films from the late 40s to the 60s. To his credit, we have The Last Man on Earth, The Fly, Rocketship XM, the Quatermass movies and the early films of Sam Fuller.
On the debit side, we have the other 70 or so films he bears responsibility for, almost all of them done quickly and artlessly with both eyes on the budget: Films like The Lost Continent (’51) with Cesar Romero and those crummy dinosaurs; King Dinosaur (’55) with even crummier monsters; Fingerprints Don’t Lie (reviewed here earlier;) the Lash LaRue movies; Sins of Jezebel; Queen of the Amazon; Superman and the Mole Men; The Alligator People, a whole bunch of British B-movies with faded American stars.
I could go on, but you get the point, or if you don’t you won’t. Lippert’s favorite actor was Sid Melton and his most-used actress was Margia Dean, with whom he was sleeping. I rather enjoy Lippert’s films myself. Some are touched with genius, some amusingly inept, and some are simply jaw-droppingly awful, but they all have that sense of quiet desperation Thoreau spoke of so movingly.
And oddly enough, the talents of Lippert and Melville once met, in a remarkable little film called Omoo Omoo the Shark God.
Well anyway the credits tell us this is based on Omoo, though I don’t recall any cursed idols, budding romance or native blood-brothers in Melville’s autobiographical novel. Perhaps writer/director Leon Leonard saw something in it I didn’t. (I told you I had a critical blind spot there.) Or maybe the film is an extended commentary on the book, a fictional critique and thematic riposte.
I guess we’ll never know. All I can say for sure is that the story revolves around an obsessive sea captain guiding his ship back to a remote island in search of some mystical black pearls he stole from the eyes of a native idol years ago and hid someplace. Romance blooms along the way between the Captain’s daughter and our hero (Devera Burton and Ron Randell), and once we get to the island sundry complications ensue, including hostile natives, greedy sailors and some sort of curse.
This is all done in typical Lippert style, played out on cramped sets and filled out with stock footage. I don’t believe there’s an original exterior shot in the whole movie. But one can clearly see the thematic references to Moby Dick: the mad captain, compelled to pursue a horrible fate; the inversion (White Whale becomes Black Pearls) and the incredible boredom as the story moves like a becalmed iceberg. The studio jungles are about what you’d expect from a movie like this, helped a bit by Benjamin Kline’s expert photography, and Albert Glasser’s music tries hard to convince us something’s going on, but this is basically an hour of nothing much. And yet…
And yet I find myself wondering what prompted writer/director Leon Leonard to this tawdry madness in the first place. He had no previous experience writing or directing for the movies; his only other screen credit is a bit part in an obscure Rudy Vallee short, Campus Sweetheart, and he seems to have worked mostly in the Theatre as a musical director. So how did he come to bring Melville to the screen?
Whence this film?
I tell you, it’s enough to make a man think.
February 26th, 2015 at 1:50 pm
I have the same unacquired taste for Melville that you do, Dan. I wish I could say that I’ll ever give MOBY DICK another try, but all in all, I am sure I won’t.
On the other hand, here is a list of books that Jonathan steered me to just today. It’s from the Wikipedia page for A READER’S MANIFESTO, by B. R. Myers, a book I intend to obtain and read ASAP:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Reader%27s_Manifesto
The full title is A Reader’s Manifesto: An Attack on the Growing Pretentiousness in American Literary Prose
In A Reader’s Manifesto, Myers presents these novels as examples of clear, concise literary style:
To The Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf.
Those Barren Leaves, by Aldous Huxley.
The Adventures of Augie March and The Victim (novel), by Saul Bellow.
The Man Without Qualities, by Robert Musil.
Le Père Goriot, Illusions perdues, and La Comédie humaine by Honoré de Balzac.
The Orchard Keeper, by Cormac McCarthy.
The Key to Rebecca, by Ken Follett.
Moby-Dick, by Herman Melville.
Hondo, by Louis L’Amour.
Malone Dies, by Samuel Beckett.
Farewell to Manzanar, by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston
A Dark Night’s Passing and At Kinosaki, by Naoya Shiga.
What Makes Sammy Run?, by Budd Schulberg.
Appointment in Samarra, by John O’Hara.
Hangover Square, by Patrick Hamilton (dramatist).
The Second Curtain, by Roy Fuller.
Gormenghast, by Mervyn Peake.
Things as They Are or The Adventures of Caleb Williams, by William Godwin.
The Waiting Years, by Fumiko Enchi.
The Wild Geese, by Mori ÅŒgai.
And speaking to everyone, how many of these have you read?
February 26th, 2015 at 1:54 pm
Also, if one purpose of a review is to steer the occasional reader away from a movie he or she might want to avoid watching, Dan, in which case you succeeded very well.
It is nice to know that OMOO OMOO exists, but while I am glad to know about it, I think that this is all I want to know about it.
February 26th, 2015 at 3:07 pm
Re the list, good one too although he left out James Salter, I’ve read all but the three Japanese titles.
La Comedie humane is a long list of books from Goirot to EUGENE GRANDET, THE GIRL WITH THE GOLDEN EYES, A WILD ASSES SKIN, and indeed most of Balzac’s output. I’ve read much of it, but it is all over the place from war, crime, adventure, soap opera, semi erotica, to you name it, literally the human comedy.
On the crime side I particularly recommend Roy Fuller’s THE SECOND CURTAIN.
I enjoyed MOBY DICK and much of Melville, but I agree it is hard going. That mass of excruciating detail about ships, the sea, and whaling is there to disguise the fact it is actually a huge allegorical Gothick novel.
Dan, take comfort that MOBY DICK was considered far from a classic when it came out, received some dismal reviews, and took forever to become a classic. Hawthorne admired it, but he was one of the few.
Actually “Barleby the Scrivener” is far and away the best of Melville followed by “Billy Budd.” There is not much in OOMO or TYPEE to suggest he would write a book like MOBY DICK though.
WAKE OF THE RED WITCH with John Wayne, Gail Russell, and Gig Young was a hit around this time, I wonder if they were trying to cash in on the South Seas adventure theme? WAKE is about a captain returning to the island where his lover died because of her father’s feud with him and to recover pearls he pirated hidden in a pool with a killer octopus.
Likely OOMO was a title with name recognition that could be spun into something similar to WAKE. Aside from the film Garland Roark’s novel had been a huge bestseller (literally, its nearly as long as MOBY DICK).
I think TYPEE was also filmed with Dana Andrews, though it may just be a similar story line.
February 26th, 2015 at 4:11 pm
One thing I noticed in Dan’s original review was his listing SUPERMAN VS THE MOLE MEN as a clunker of a film. This was the film that launched George Reeves to play in the classic television series, The Adventures of Superman.
And that’s about as far as one can get from MOBY DICK isn’t it? I’ve never read the Melville novel either, but not for lack of trying. One of thee days I may make it through.
February 26th, 2015 at 5:24 pm
Appointment In Samarra is almost pretty great, but John O’Hara wrote several — as in many, readable and brilliant novels. Brilliant from his dissection of American culture at the period covered, and readable because he is almost inarguable the finest stylist we have yet to produce. Highly recommended and in no particular order. A Rage To Live, Hope Of Heaven, From The Terrace, The Big Laugh, Elizabeth Appleton, a collection of three novels issued under the banner, Sermons and Soda Water, and collection of short stories, although my preference is for And Other Stories.
February 26th, 2015 at 5:42 pm
I remember reading and enjoying Appointment in Samarra many years ago, but I have no memory of it today.
February 26th, 2015 at 6:39 pm
Barry,
Always happy to find another O’Hara enthusiast. I agree with everything you say about his gift as a stylist and think he is the least appreciated major writer of his times. He was also a splendid short story writer I would rank with Irwin Shaw in that field.
I thought it telling that John D. MacDonald was often called the John O’Hara of crime fiction.
I suppose popularity and best-seller-dom hurt O’Hara’s literary reputation, but he still remains a pleasure to reread. I would add THE HAT ON THE BED as a great short story collection and point out the novella PAL JOEY as a story worth reading if you only know it from the Sinatra film.
Some of the novels like RAGE TO LIVE and FROM THE TERRACE are connected.
APPOINTMENT IN SAMMARA was done as a television movie and a short lived television series with Gig Young.
February 26th, 2015 at 6:43 pm
I wasn’t going to say anything about my love of Melville’s MOBY DICK but I guess I have to stand up and say I’ve read the novel 3 times and think it is in the running for the great American novel. I even liked PIERRE which most critics hate and say ruined Melville’s career. After PIERRE, he just about stopped writing for the next 30 years, except for his poetry.
I recently reread BARTLEBY and enjoyed it again. WHITE JACKET, by the way, is an excellent factual account of life on a man of war. Over 500 men living in close quarters on a sailing ship. Amazing.
Each year 5 pulp collectors rent a big white van and travel to the Windy City Pulp convention. We call it The White Whale.
February 26th, 2015 at 8:17 pm
I kind of expected you to have something to say on the behalf of Herman Melville and MOBY DICK in particular.
Bad or indifferent English teachers in high school turned me off from how good literary fiction can be.
I wish it hadn’t been so. Just looking at that list in my Comment #1 makes me realize how much I’ve missed. I’ve read only 3 or 4 of them, and I don’t imagine it would be difficult for anyone to figure out which ones.
February 26th, 2015 at 8:18 pm
I think John O’Hara might be a good author for me to start catching up with.
February 26th, 2015 at 9:31 pm
Agree with Walker Martin: Moby-Dick is the great American novel.
Liked Pierre, Billy Budd, Benito Cereno too.
Melville had a rich, complex poetic style.
Am puzzled by “Myers presents these novels as examples of clear, concise literary style.” Melville is great: but poetic and far from “concise”. He’s like Shakespeare.
The 2013 opera version of Moby-Dick is terrific. It was shown on PBS.Music by Jake Heggie.
I need to read a lot more literary novels too.
Have read very few on list.
February 27th, 2015 at 11:09 am
As usual, the comments quickly went on to a number of somewhat related topics leaving any comments on the movie itself (if there were any)in the dust. I tried the movie, but found no reason to do more than that. Had I stumbled onto a darkened theater where it was playing and had nothing better to do I might have stuck it out to the end.
February 27th, 2015 at 6:33 pm
Well Randy, obviously the Lippert films failed to cast the same spell on you they have on me. It’s like a strange compulsion. Last night I wanted to watch SUPERMAN & THE MOLE MEN but couldn’t find my copy. Searched all over but couldn’t turn it up. Finally I concluded that someone must have broken into my house and stolen it—seemed like the only reasonable explanation. This morning, however it turned up in the HAMLET stack and all is well.
As I said before, I’m still struck by the Mystery of how & why someone who has never done a movie before suddenly turns up, bases a movie on OMOO (or did he?) and then disappears from the scene. Like a whale surfacing, then disappearing forever. Perhaps there are more things in the cheap movies than are dreamt of in our philosophy.
February 28th, 2015 at 3:42 pm
Dan, As usual the comments often move way beyond the original subject on which the comments are based and this one is no different. I know nothing about Lippert’s films and the only title that was familiar to me was SUPERMAN & THE MOLE MEN. I remember seeing this in the theater as a kid and thinking it was a cut above previous Superman movies I had seen (I was probably thinking of the Columbia serials with Kirk Alyn). It turned out to be the pilot for the George Reeves television series THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN. A number of years ago I bought the DVD of the first season of that show and found there were two versions of MOLE MEN in the set: the original movie and the edited version that appeared in two parts as episodes of the television show.
February 28th, 2015 at 5:45 pm
And since no. 14 was posted I watched my copy of SUPERMAN AND THE MOLE MEN (1951) that I hadn’t seen for 10 years (the DVD set is copyrighted 2005). Very entertaining and of interest to see how this version of Superman was developed. Among the special features were a selection of Kellogg’s commercials featuring George Reeves and a 1940 Warner Brothers technicolor short with Reeves, “Pony Express Days.”
March 1st, 2015 at 7:55 am
Randy,
Watched SUPERMAN/MOLE MEN last night, and enjoyed it despite the cheapo look. I have to say Supes was off-screen for long stretches while they did a not-very-interesting chase scene, and they spent a lot of time just talking, but I appreciated the movie’s tolerant viewpoint and lack of pretension.
March 1st, 2015 at 2:05 pm
Dan,
You should have seen it in 1951 when I saw it for the first time. Knowing how episodes in the TV series were structured, I was surprised that Superman didn’t make his first appearance until halfway into the film. Still, we had Clark Kent and Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane, considered to be one of the best screamers in the business.
March 1st, 2015 at 4:30 pm
Of course, the TV series was handled by people at DC comics who were closer to the product than Lippert was.
March 17th, 2015 at 11:49 am
A couple of points:
Gibbsville (The Turning Point of Jim Malloy) is based on The Doctor’s Son by John O’Hara, not necessarily Appointment In Samarra — although an awful lot of his work, both long and short form, is connected.
In Wake of the Red Witch, John Wayne’s rival for Gail Russell was her husband, not her father, played by Luther Adler. Makes it much more disgusting to think she sleeps with him. Suppose that makes me a terrible snob to think beautiful people should be together. So be it.