The strangest aspect of this maritime adventure is the psychodrama that takes up the bulk of the picture. Rather than focusing on above-the-waves seafaring action (which would make a better movie), the preponderance of the conflict focuses on the kind of bitter, almost Freudian paternal rivalry that crops up between Captain Bering Joy (craggly-voiced Lionel Barrymore, doing a variant on his nasty Mr. Potter characterization) and first mate Dan Lunsford (Richard Widmark).
The story sees Lunsford not only fulfilling his role as hired tutor for Joy's orphaned grandson, Jed (Dean Stockwell), but becoming a kind of surrogate father for the boy, which makes the captain breathe fire and sets the stage for a fascinating series of sabotages between the two adult men. The interplay holds one's attention, and, for the majority of two hours, director Henry Hathaway and co-scripters Sy Bartlett and John Lee Mahin keep the material fresh by steeping it in behavioral ambiguities. But the picture takes a nearly fatal turn about halfway through. The captain reveals the extent of his jealousy and insecurity by refusing to allow Lunsford to save Jed from a fogbound accident -- an order that Lunsford promptly ignores. Lunsford later arrives at an idiotically "moralistic" conclusion, where he defends the captain's vile actions under the guise of "on board rules" and "loyalty to the captain." This wrap-up is utterly absurd -- and it denies the captain's darker, subconscious motives that have given weight and dimension to his vile instructions. It's as if Hathaway and his co-scenarists are negating the refreshing complexity of their own material by violently doubling back on themselves and stripping the material of its deeper layers. But for the most part, the picture generally maintains enough psychodramatic dimension and depth to stay interesting and ahead of its time. Aside from the Freudian conflicts, the filmmakers work in some much-needed action (a whale hunt/carving, a massive iceberg that busts up the side of the vessel and threatens to bring it down, the nighttime rescue of Jed). These events are captivating, but Hathaway doesn't give them enough attention or screen time and leaves one wanting more.