Based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway with screenplay by Peter Viertel about a an aging fisherman (Spencer Tracy won an Oscar nomination for the role) who fights a band of hungry sharks for an enormous Marlin in the Gulf Stream to bring his trophy home . Santiago goes out on his usual fishing trip and makes a huge catch , the biggest of his life . Then a shark attacks and tries to steal his catch . Santiago is making slow progress toward shore, humming to himself . He notices a fin in the water approaching fast . It's a Mako shark, coming after some free marlin meat. Santiago thrusts his harpoon into the shark, but loses hold of the rope and the shark swims away with the rope and the harpoon. The shark had taken a bite of the marlin, releasing blood into the water . Later on , Santiago battles many sharks for days . As several more sharks approach and Santaigo stands up with his new spear and prepares to do battle . They feed, he stabs, over and over, until the blade of the knife snaps off. He apologizes to the marlin and regrets having gone out so far, for both their sakes . He returns to the shore beaten , tattered and torn, and his catch consisting now of mostly bones .
Enjoyable tale deliberately narrated plenty of sensitivity , stubbornness , dreams and color . It is an Ernest Hemingway's story of heroism , defeat , obstinacy and Victory . The flick is pretty well , but a little bit boring and slow . Humphrey Bogart attempted to purchase the film rights to Ernest Hemingway's novel through his production company, Santana Productions , Bogart identified strongly with the character of the old man and wanted to play the fisherman ; but the film wasn't made until the year following his death , with his close friend Spencer Tracy . The main starring , Spencer Tracy , is marvelous as Ernest Hemingway's aging fisherman who hooks a gigantic fish that drags him out to sea . He garnered his sixth Academy Award Nomination as as the tough , likable as well as dreamer fisherman . After seeing the film , Ernest Hemingway expressed his disappointment and said that Spencer Tracy looked less the Cuban peasant fisherman and more the rich old actor that he was . Ernest Hemingway himself was initially involved in the production, although the extent of his participation after selling his book was to go marlin-fishing off the coast of Peru to try to find a fish worthy enough for the movie . In the end , the producers used a rubber marlin and stock footage of marlin fishing in which Hemingway didn't participate in . Colorful and brilliant cinematography in Warnercolor by James Wong Howe and Floyd Crosby . Dimitri Tiomkin's wonderful musical score was Oscar winner .
This motion picture was well produced by Leland Hayward and compellingly directed by John Sturges who replaced Fred Zinnemann . John began his directing career at Columbia Pictures, where from 1946-49 he he worked on "12-day wonders" ("B" pictures shot on a 12-day schedule). From there he moved on to MGM where he filmed more "B" pictures, albeit on a larger budget . He established an independent production company in 1959, releasing through United Artists. From 1960-67 he worked under contract for United Artists. His first major hit was the western Dog Day at Black Rock (1955) , which he shot in just three weeks, wrapping up virtually every scene in a single take . He specialized in robust action pictures, particularly westerns . He excelled at bringing to life tautly written stories about tough characters facing difficult circumstances . Throughout his career he regularly alternated hits with misses . He has also been criticized for his lack of stylistic trademarks , though his best films remain exciting to watch . Sturges was expert on all kind of genres , but especially warlike such as : ¨Great Escape¨, ¨Ice Station Zebra¨ and ¨Eagle has landed¨ and Western such as ¨Last train of Gun Hill¨, ¨Magnificent Seven¨, ¨Backlash¨, ¨Law and Jake Webb¨, ¨Joe Kidd¨ and Chino¨, among others . This high-level film will appeal to Spencer Tracy fans .
There is a second rendition made-for-TV , ¨The old man and the sea¨ (1990) by Judd Taylor with big name cast , though , unfortunately , this reboot is ordinary and inferior to original ; being starred by Anthony Quinn , Alexis Cruz , Patricia Clarkson , Gary Cole, Francesco Quinn ; photographed by Tony Imi and soundtrack by Bruce Broughton .
Enjoyable tale deliberately narrated plenty of sensitivity , stubbornness , dreams and color . It is an Ernest Hemingway's story of heroism , defeat , obstinacy and Victory . The flick is pretty well , but a little bit boring and slow . Humphrey Bogart attempted to purchase the film rights to Ernest Hemingway's novel through his production company, Santana Productions , Bogart identified strongly with the character of the old man and wanted to play the fisherman ; but the film wasn't made until the year following his death , with his close friend Spencer Tracy . The main starring , Spencer Tracy , is marvelous as Ernest Hemingway's aging fisherman who hooks a gigantic fish that drags him out to sea . He garnered his sixth Academy Award Nomination as as the tough , likable as well as dreamer fisherman . After seeing the film , Ernest Hemingway expressed his disappointment and said that Spencer Tracy looked less the Cuban peasant fisherman and more the rich old actor that he was . Ernest Hemingway himself was initially involved in the production, although the extent of his participation after selling his book was to go marlin-fishing off the coast of Peru to try to find a fish worthy enough for the movie . In the end , the producers used a rubber marlin and stock footage of marlin fishing in which Hemingway didn't participate in . Colorful and brilliant cinematography in Warnercolor by James Wong Howe and Floyd Crosby . Dimitri Tiomkin's wonderful musical score was Oscar winner .
This motion picture was well produced by Leland Hayward and compellingly directed by John Sturges who replaced Fred Zinnemann . John began his directing career at Columbia Pictures, where from 1946-49 he he worked on "12-day wonders" ("B" pictures shot on a 12-day schedule). From there he moved on to MGM where he filmed more "B" pictures, albeit on a larger budget . He established an independent production company in 1959, releasing through United Artists. From 1960-67 he worked under contract for United Artists. His first major hit was the western Dog Day at Black Rock (1955) , which he shot in just three weeks, wrapping up virtually every scene in a single take . He specialized in robust action pictures, particularly westerns . He excelled at bringing to life tautly written stories about tough characters facing difficult circumstances . Throughout his career he regularly alternated hits with misses . He has also been criticized for his lack of stylistic trademarks , though his best films remain exciting to watch . Sturges was expert on all kind of genres , but especially warlike such as : ¨Great Escape¨, ¨Ice Station Zebra¨ and ¨Eagle has landed¨ and Western such as ¨Last train of Gun Hill¨, ¨Magnificent Seven¨, ¨Backlash¨, ¨Law and Jake Webb¨, ¨Joe Kidd¨ and Chino¨, among others . This high-level film will appeal to Spencer Tracy fans .
There is a second rendition made-for-TV , ¨The old man and the sea¨ (1990) by Judd Taylor with big name cast , though , unfortunately , this reboot is ordinary and inferior to original ; being starred by Anthony Quinn , Alexis Cruz , Patricia Clarkson , Gary Cole, Francesco Quinn ; photographed by Tony Imi and soundtrack by Bruce Broughton .