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Post by topbilled on Nov 13, 2022 15:25:18 GMT
I have tried watching this film a few times but never found PLYMOUTH ADVENTURE to be very engaging. Something about it just doesn't fully work for me, and I don't quite know what. Maybe it's because I think Spencer Tracy is wrong for the lead, and that it might have been better with Clark Gable.
It was the last motion picture by Clarence Brown whose directing career stretched back to 1920. It's based on a novel called 'The Voyage of the Mayflower' by an Irish writer.
PLYMOUTH ADVENTURE lost a lot of money for MGM when it was first released, but it's become a favorite of TCM programmers who trot it out every year at this time.
Anyone a fan? If so, please tell us why you like it... |
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Post by BunnyWhit on Nov 13, 2022 16:11:29 GMT
Interesting post, TB.
The pic you posted reminds me of Northwest Passage (1940), another film in which I feel Spencer Tracy was miscast. I just never can buy him as a rough, outdoorsy type. I've not seen Plymouth Adventure, but now I guess I'll have to. Your description of it kind of puts it squarely in the category of "this milk is sour....taste it", so now I can't wait!
Thanks for mentioning the source novel for Plymouth Adventure. It's from Ernest Gebler, who was married to Edna O'Brien in the 50s-60s.
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Post by Fading Fast on Nov 13, 2022 16:13:20 GMT
Like you, I've never made it to the end and haven't tried in so long, I don't remember much about it anymore.
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Post by topbilled on Nov 13, 2022 16:35:52 GMT
These pictures were taken by a friend who visited Massachusetts in 2016. It is an exact replica of the Mayflower, called the Mayflower II. You can see how small the ship really was (holding over 100 people plus livestock).
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Post by BingFan on Nov 13, 2022 18:24:40 GMT
I’ll have to join the crowd: I’ve also never managed to watch all of Plymouth Adventure.
It seems like there aren’t very many movies from the golden age of Hollywood that prominently feature Thanksgiving.
By The Light Of The Silvery Moon (1953) with Doris Day and Gordon MacRae (and some very good character actors: Mary Wickes, Leon Ames, Rosemary DeCamp, Billy Gray) features a subplot involving the family’s live Thanksgiving turkey, as well as their Thanksgiving dinner itself.
And both Holiday Inn (1942) and Miracle On 34th Street (1947) include Thanksgiving Day. The former even has one of the few songs written for this holiday (“I’ve Got Plenty to be Thankful For”), and the latter features the famous Macy’s Thanksgiving parade. But Thanksgiving in both of these fine films is understandably overshadowed by their Christmas content. Still, I think they’re good choices for Thanksgiving Day viewing, since the Christmas season traditionally seems to begin then (if not sooner these days).
There are some more recent Thanksgiving-based movies that can be fun to watch.
Woody Allen included Thanksgiving prominently in both Broadway Danny Rose (1984) and Hannah and Her Sisters (1986). Home for the Holidays (1995) is an excellent comedy-drama, directed by Jodie Foster, about a dysfunctional family getting together for Thanksgiving; it has an outstanding cast, including Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr., Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning, Geraldine Chaplin, and David Strathairn, among others. And if you’re in the mood for laughs, I think Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), with Steve Martin and John Candy, has plenty, as the two mismatched traveling companions try to overcome a lot of bad luck as they go from New York to Chicago for Thanksgiving. One last possibility: Alice’s Restaurant (1969), directed by Arthur Penn and starring Arlo Guthrie, re-tells the story from Arlo’s famous song, which takes place partly on Thanksgiving.
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