Shotlist

Ken Smith reports: Essentially, this "film" is just murky stock footage of men on a fishing trawler. What transforms it into an epic tale of Man vs. The Sea is an amazing narration by somebody named Wilfred Lucas. Mr. Lucas pulls no punches; in this violent world, decent men kill every fish they meet. But that's okay, because -- as Mr. Lucas explains -- fish are evil and deserve to die. A manta ray gets a harpoon in its skull because it's a "devil fish," and a "terror of the deep." An octopus barely escapes with its life, even though it's a "slimy, death-dealing monster" and a "black-hearted scoundrel." Even porpoises are slandered, being derisively referred to as "clowns" and "good for lubricating oil." As if this weren't enough, a whole section of this film is devoted to a battle between a whale and a swordfish, which is the whale's "greatest enemy" (something many ichthyologists would be interested to learn). As the camera cuts rapidly between stock shots of a leaping swordfish and completely different footage of a sleeping whale, Mr. Lucas tells us that "no one has ever been lucky enough to photograph a scene like this before." Truly a triumph of style over content; great fun to watch. Look for the cameo by Wumpy the parrot.
extremely theatrical narration of action;
P.O.V. bow of boat cutting through water
Commercial tuna boat with fisherman hauling in dozens and dozens. Game fishermen catching tuna with rods and reels.
ship's lookout on mast; CU reel;
Shark fight:
man hooks tuna; shark attempts to get tuna; man shoots at shark with a handgun; tuna is landed, has an enormous shark bite taken out of him;
man hooks shark on line; shark fights back ferociously; shark is landed; shark's mouth is opened to display teeth;
man climbs ship's rigging;
manta ray is landed
harpooner spears giant manta; manta drags boat along behind him; boat capsizes;
storm at sea; diver in diving suit;
hammerhead shark is caught (and shot at)
On porpoises:
"No good for food, they make good leather and the finest lubricating oil used for watches and clocks."
giant octopus:
"Can't afford to miss a chance to photograph one of these elephant-spiders of the ocean floor." "Merciful powers, what's this eerie shape.? There it is! Look out, octopus! The crawling irresistible slimy death-dealing monster of the sea floor."
anemone:
"Watch how quickly the fish our boys throw down is enclosed in that living sepulcher."
whale and swordfish have fight; whale is harpooned;
commercial whaler shoots a harpoon gun (looks like artillery)


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