Mare Nostrum (1926)

Too much of everything

good back-story, and good acting

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

A decent enough film, but it's unlikely to blow you away. Set during WWI, a Spanish sea captain (Antonio Moreno) traveling in Italy meets and falls in love with a young German woman (Alice Terry). One problem is that he's married, and has a young son. Another is that the German woman and her older colleague (Mademoiselle Paquerette) are both spies, and convince him to help the Germany navy out in a way whose ramifications he can't fully appreciate. The film is thus about guilt and paying for the choices one makes in life, and director Rex Ingram pulls no punches. I loved the scenes on location in Naples, Pompeii (with Vesuvius smoking the background), Marseilles, and Barcelona. The scenes with U-boat attacks were tense, and the German officers suitably sinister. It's a little on the melodramatic side, and there are some rather big coincidences to help the plot get to where it's going. Even at 102 minutes, the film is belabored, and elements like the prologue could have been cut. There's something missing to truly recommend it, but on the other hand, it's well made and reasonably entertaining 92 years later.

Mare Nostrum (1926) *** (out of 4) Lavish MGM production takes a rather routine screenplay and turns it into something rather unique. Seaman Ulysses Ferragut (Antonio Moreno) falls for a woman (Alice Terry) who turns out to be a German spy and their relationship leads to one disaster after another. That's pretty much all you need to know in terms of story because there's no question that the main reason to check this out is the visual style. Even though the story is pretty routine, director Ingram at least pumps plenty of style and gives us some terrific visuals along the way. The film has our Captain being fixated on the sea goddess Amphitrite and this is the reason he ends up falling for the spy as the two look quite a bit alike. This obsession was one of the most interesting things about the screenplay and I must admit that I was pulled in by the "old ways" involving the mysterious of the sea and the various folk tales that are brought into the film. One of the best moments happens at the very start of the film when we see some items at the bottom of the sea. This certainly isn't anything we haven't seen in earlier films but Ingram shows it in such a striking way that it's very memorable. The same is true of the ending, which I won't ruin but there's no question the image is perfectly filmed. Some of the stuff goes a tad bit too far into melodrama including the relationship between the Captain and his wife. There's also a German officer that's a tad bit too silly and it's made even worse by the fact that it's played by an Erich von Stroheim look-alike. I'm sure had Erich been on good terms with the studio then he would have been playing the part. I do wonder why the studio and director cast someone like they did as I'm sure folks in 1926 saw the resemblance. As far as the performances go Terry clearly steals the film. She's extremely passionate, sexual and dramatic so she perfectly captures whatever it is she needs to do. I thought she really brought her character to life and managed to easily steal the film. Moreno is pretty much forgotten today but at the time he was Valentino's rival. His looks probably brought the majority of the women to the film but he turned in a nice performance. There's no question that the screenplay isn't the greatest but the cast and especially Ingram make this something a lot better than it would have been in lesser hands.

Ulysses (handsome Antonio Moreno) owns a boat called the Mare Nostrum. He also has an uncaring wife but a son Estaban (Mickey Brantford) whom he loves. An evil, sexy German spy Freye (Alice Terry) seduces Ulysses and convinces him to help bring supplies to a German sub. He does and the sub ends up destroying a ship that Estaban is on. Ulysses vows to kill all the people responsible.This silent film was believed lost for many years. Thankfully it's been found and beautifully restored. Basically, this is a tragedy so it's hardly a happy film but still it's extremely well-made and directed by Rex Ingram, one of the best silent film directors. There are some very amusing miniature ships and subs in some sequences, but this WAS 1926--that's probably the best they had! The acting is good too. Moreno was a very popular star in his day--sadly, he's forgotten today. He's good-looking and gives one hell of a performance--some of his reaction shots were incredibly good. Terry was obviously hired because she was married to director Ingram, but she was a good actress and she's good here. She was cast against type playing an evil woman (she usually played the good girl) and she pulls it off. Her scene in front of the firing squad is just great. And young Brantford is very good as Estaban. The only bad thing was Caragol (Hughie Mack)--an obese man who provides unfunny comic relief. And it DOES have a silly ending.Still, a great silent film. Well worth catching.

A young Spanish sea captain learns about life & death, great love & passionate hatred, while sailing the waters of MARE NOSTRUM - ‘Our Sea.'Brilliant & disturbing, this was the last important film from acclaimed silent director Rex Ingram. Produced to great effect on location in the Western Mediterranean, this was one of Metro's biggest films of the 1920's. Returning to the author who had already given him enormous success with THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE - Vicente Blasco Ibáñez - Ingram would once again produce a film of exceptional high quality. Today, it is all but forgotten...Antonio Moreno gives a vivid performance as the Captain who is used so harshly by fate. His doleful eyes linger in the imagination of the viewer long after the end of the film. Alice Terry - Mrs. Rex Ingram - is sultry & beautiful as the Austrian spy who seduces Moreno. Her firing squad scene is considered a classic of pacing & composition, and she is magnificent in it.Uni Apollon is very effective in his few minutes as an old Spanish sea dog. Madame Pâquerette, as a large, mannish German spy master is formidable. Hughie Mack, as an absolutely loyal, grossly obese Spanish servant, is especially satisfying. (This excellent character actor would die from heart disease the year after MARE NOSTRUM's release, at the age of only 42.)The unfortunate use of obvious models for some of the scenes at sea is more than mitigated by the presence of real ships & submarines in others. The filming among the ruins in Italy's Pompeii & Paestum, as well as the spy chase along the waterfront in Marseille, add tremendously to the overall ambiance of this remarkable film.The underwater sequences with Amphitrite, goddess of Mare Nostrum, are absolutely haunting.