The Sea Wolf

"Jack London's great novel of terror afloat."

1941 1h 40m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

★7.2TMDB · 72

AdventureDrama

Synopsis

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Shipwrecked fugitives try to escape a brutal sea captain who's losing his mind.

“Jack London's great novel of terror afloat.”

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Cast

Edward G. Robinson
'Wolf' Larsen
Ida Lupino
Ruth Webster
John Garfield
George Leach
Alexander Knox
Humphrey Van Weyden
Gene Lockhart
Dr. Prescott
Barry Fitzgerald
Cooky
Stanley Ridges
Johnson
David Bruce
Young Sailor

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Michael Curtiz
Writers: Robert Rossen
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

85 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Michael Curtiz, shot by Sol Polito. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Original score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor George Amy shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Edward G. Robinson and Ida Lupino and John Garfield carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Jack London's great novel of terror afloat.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0034162 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Michael Curtiz directs. Sol Polito behind the camera. Erich Wolfgang Korngold scores. George Amy cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
285 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by Michael Curtiz, shot by Sol Polito. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor George Amy shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Edward G. Robinson and Ida Lupino and John Garfield carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Jack London's great novel of terror afloat.".
8IMDB entry: tt0034162 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 72 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
10Classified under 12 themes, including "mutiny", "boat", "north atlantic", "fugitive".

The technical file

Cinematography: Sol Polito
Original score: Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Editing: George Amy
Makeup / hair: Perc Westmore
Runtime: 100 min · 1h 40m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,013,217
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Sea Wolf (1941)

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Michael Curtiz

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2026-06-24
★ 7/10
This is a sort of briny equivalent of out of the frying pan and into the fire, as "Leach" (John Garfield), "Ruth" (Ida Lupino) and "Van Weyden" (Alexander Knox) find themselves unwilling passengers on a schooner. It's skipper "Larsen" (Edward G. Robinson) must have gone to the William Bligh school of seamanship as he rules his vessel with a ruthless rod of iron. What begins to puzzle our reluctant passengers is just what the ship's mission is and why their host refuses to drop them off at any port but, eventually, at their home of San Francisco. As that mystery deepens, we become immersed in a darkly characterful study of a bully and of the shrewd tactics he uses to keep control amongst a crew of men who would as readily keel haul a colleague as rescue him. There's a slightly romantic element from Lupino and Leach but rather than dominate the proceedings, this actually serves to introduce an extra layer of menace as the captain finds yet another tool to use to manipulate his new quarry. Robinson is on super form here. On the face of it, he's just a gnarly brute but as the plot thickness up nicely we start to see a little more of the man and of what drove any humanity he ever had from him - and question the role of his absent but omnipresent brother in all of this. Knox also delivers powerfully here as the more cultured character whose nature is entirely ill-fitted for any life on the sea that doesn't involve an ocean liner and some champagne and so is going to have the toughest time trying to adapt, and Lupino offers quite a solid portrayal of a woman who is anything but the screeching damsel in distress. The photography is dark and grainy, Korngold's score and the remarkably convincing visual effects of a torrid life at sea all contribute to craft a nasty seafaring drama in which Robinson shines. Not quite Charles Laughton, but nearly...!

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