All the Brothers Were Valiant

I got off to a rocky start with 1953's All the Brothers Were Valiant. The story of two brothers on the high seas in the South Pacific in the 1850s seemed like so many other generic high seas adventures that flooded the market in the 1940s and 1950s. It seemed like all the samples from other movies were taken for this one down to the stock characters and idiotic decision-making. Thankfully somewhere along the way, director Richard Thorpe pulls his head out of his butt and decides to make a halfway-decent movie.

After a three year voyage, Joel Thorpe (Robert Taylor) returns to 1848 New Bedford to find out that his brother, Mark, has disappeared from his own voyage somewhere in the South Pacific. Joel is given command of his missing brother's ship -- a whaler -- and prepares for another long voyage, but not before marrying Priscilla Holt (Ann Blyth), the former sweetheart of Mark's who Joel always had a crush on. Priscilla joins Joel as they head for the South Pacific where they manage to find Mark (Stewart Granger), ready with an explanation for his missing status. Mark instantly causes problems, both with Priscilla who he wants back and almost inciting a mutiny on Joel's ship, enticing the crew with promises of pearls.

Okay, every so often I feel the need to say this. I realize it is the rare movie that is perfect and/or flawless. At least 99.99 percent of movies have something wrong with them. It's just hoping that the positives -- however many there are -- outweigh the negatives. That's why I'll be able to give 'Valiant' a positive review, a recommendation for any viewers who are curious. As bad as some parts are, as cliched as the characters and story can be, the end result is positive. I enjoyed the positives more than I hated the negatives, and that's all I'm looking for in a new movie on a first viewing.

Don't get me wrong. That first 30 minutes is particularly brutal. All the high seas cliches are there; the happy crew singing as they go about their work, the long shots of the majestic ship and its towering sails moving across the ocean, the firm but fair captain pushing his crew. It's bad, real bad. Making it worse is that Taylor and Blyth have no chemistry together. I've come around around Taylor who I wasn't always a fan of. This is not a strong part for him, a vanilla "hero" with little charisma or personality. Blythy's Priscilla is around because the story requires some tension. What woman in her right mind would board a ship with her husband with a three-year voyage ahead of them in the 1840s? Somehow, some way, she keeps her hair immaculate and her dresses pristine. Good for her.

The saving grace is Granger's arrival at about the 35-minute mark. He's the necessary bad boy hero, the good guy who has some questionable morals and/or motives. His backstory -- a flashback that runs around 10-15 minutes -- is the high point of the story, probably worthy of an entire movie on its own. Ravaged with fever in the South Pacific, he is cared for by a beautiful native girl (Betta St. John). Once healthy again, Mark joins with a marauding group of adventurers (including James Whitmore and Kurt Kasznar) searching for pearls on an isolated island with a warring tribe as its inhabitants. There is some tension, some excitement, some betrayals and backstabbing and greed in this too-short segment, starting the movie back on its more interesting path.

Thanks to Granger's introduction, the movie does get more interesting as things near the halfway point. There are still some weird coincidences and stupid decisions made, but the possible mutiny livens things up. Mutinies have a way of doing that I suppose. The drama that comes out of this second half illustrates what's wrong with the movie. It boils down to this. Granger is interesting. Taylor isn't. Granger's Mark plays everyone against each other for his own benefit, realizing his mistake in the closing minutes. It is a 1950s movie so his fate is never really in question. Taylor and his monotone voice and delivery keep us on Granger's side unfortunately so we're basically rooting for the "bad guy" of the two brothers.

Sappy love triangle and boring performances from Taylor and Blyth, this was a good movie. Granted, those are big strikes against any movie, but what are you going to do? Blyth bounces back and forth between Joel and Mark every other scene, and the resolution is too perfect to believe. I still liked the movie though in spite of basically everything in my head telling me not to like it. Among the mutinous crew, look for Keenan Wynn in Spanish-mode as Silva, the treacherous leader of the lowly crew, Michael Pate, Leo Gordon, Peter Whitney, and John Lupton. So overall, this movie barely (and it was close) gets a slightly positive recommendation. A classic it is not with some epic flaws, but I did enjoy it.

All the Brothers Were Valiant <---trailer (1953): ** 1/2 /****