About ten minutes into this plush production comes a jaw-dropping scene of visual fantasy--a vision of the maritime goddess Amphitrite--which is matched by a similarly striking underwater sequence at the end. Unfortunately, between these bookends sits a Victorian melodrama of adultery/guilt/expiation, which is then shoe-horned into a WWI spy plot: betrayal of spouse reflected in betrayal of country.
Despite its mythological and religious trappings, this is deeply conventional story-telling: while an artist examines the ambiguities of behavior, director Rex Ingram is satisfied with this formula plot, leaving his actors no credible characters to develop and only pot-boiler dialogue to mouth ["You are the only man I ever loved!"]. So, although Antonio Moreno looks fit in his sailing captain's uniform, he mostly frowns in pain or puzzlement, while the excellent Alice Terry must enact everything from villainy to martyrdom with little help. The other players are earnest, some used for heavy-handed stabs at humor; however, this film's disregard for people becomes clear as--late into the film--new, throw-away characters keep appearing to deliver more exposition.
The action sequences--impressively shot on locations in Barcelona, Marseilles and Naples--include a mob chasing a German spy around a harbor, plus several submarine attacks and shipwrecks [done with entertainingly elaborate though unconvincing miniatures]. Yet even the visuals seem conventional and static, like academic paintings, especially when compared to the cinematic dynamism of Sternberg or Walsh.
The title refers to the Mediterranean Sea, but is also the name of the hero's ship, and acquires still a third meaning at the end.
Despite its mythological and religious trappings, this is deeply conventional story-telling: while an artist examines the ambiguities of behavior, director Rex Ingram is satisfied with this formula plot, leaving his actors no credible characters to develop and only pot-boiler dialogue to mouth ["You are the only man I ever loved!"]. So, although Antonio Moreno looks fit in his sailing captain's uniform, he mostly frowns in pain or puzzlement, while the excellent Alice Terry must enact everything from villainy to martyrdom with little help. The other players are earnest, some used for heavy-handed stabs at humor; however, this film's disregard for people becomes clear as--late into the film--new, throw-away characters keep appearing to deliver more exposition.
The action sequences--impressively shot on locations in Barcelona, Marseilles and Naples--include a mob chasing a German spy around a harbor, plus several submarine attacks and shipwrecks [done with entertainingly elaborate though unconvincing miniatures]. Yet even the visuals seem conventional and static, like academic paintings, especially when compared to the cinematic dynamism of Sternberg or Walsh.
The title refers to the Mediterranean Sea, but is also the name of the hero's ship, and acquires still a third meaning at the end.