Director: Jud Taylor

Writer: Roger O. Hirson

From novel: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Keywords: Drama

Name	Occupation	Birth	Death	Known for
Patricia Clarkson	Actor	29-Dec-1959		Pieces of April
Gary Cole	Actor	20-Sep-1956		Bill in Office Space
Alexis Cruz	Actor	29-Sep-1974		Stargate SG-1
James McDaniel	Actor	25-Mar-1958		Lt. Arthur Fancy on NYPD Blue
Anthony Quinn	Actor	21-Apr-1915	3-Jun-2001	Zorba the Greek
Francesco Quinn	Actor	22-Mar-1963	5-Aug-2011	Platoon
Joe Santos	Actor	9-Jun-1931	18-Mar-2016	Det. Becker on Rockford Files

REVIEWS

Review by Michael Cawley (posted on 19-May-2008)

Anthony Quinn was awarded this version of Hemingway's classic tale for his 75th birthday by his producer. It was a project he had wanted to do for a long time and he is definitely much more age appropriate than Tracy was in the 1958 version. Tracy being in his 50's at the time. The Old Man and the Sea has been called unfilmable by many reviewers and this version may again add credence to this viewpoint. However, this retelling of the story adds some different characters and situations that fill out and expand the original novella. The newly created situations include a young Hemingway and his wife witnessing certain events of the story, the addition of the old man's daughter as a concerned but frustrated participant, and several flashbacks of Santiago as a young man. The daughter and young man roles are played by Quinn's real life son and daughter and seem appropriate to the plot line. The screenplay takes several liberties with the original, but it is obvious they did not want a voiced over remake of the 1958 film. Hemingway never liked any film version of his stories except for Mark Hellinger's production of :"The Killers". Maybe, in some way Hemingway's stories do not translate to the screen all that well, althougth many have been turned into high budget productions. This reviewer has always thought that the screen versions cut out the best and most Hemingwayesque parts of the stories. This was often done by Hollywood screenwriters such as Peter Vertiel. So, is this a worthwhile version of the novella? I would say "yes" with a few reservations. The boy, Manolin, is a more believable character than in the 1958 version and Quinn, himself, could be a better or more appropriate Santiago than Tracy, although it is hard to find fault with Tracy's Oscar nominated performance. This was an NBC TV movie, so the production values are not the same as in a high budget studio production, but all that aside, there is much to be appreciated here. The screenwriter has filled in and added on certain probabilities that give a certain added depth. One misses the Biblical allegory so obvious in the novella and the 1958 movie. The images of crosses and the old man as a Christ figure are pretty much missing from this version. Re-read the book (a two hour job) and see the movie and be the judge for yourself.

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