The Sea Beast is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Millard Webb, starring John Barrymore, Dolores Costello and George O'Hara.

The Sea Beast is the first adaptation of Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick,[2] a story about a monomaniacal hunt for a great white whale.

The film was so successful that in 1930 Warner Bros redid it in English and German, under the title Moby Dick, with Joan Bennett taking the role of Ahab's love because Dolores Costello was pregnant at the time.

[3] At the beginning of the story, Ahab (John Barrymore) and his half brother Derek (George O'Hara) compete for the affections of a winsome minister's daughter, Esther Wiscasset (Dolores Costello).

[4] One of the most popular of Barrymore's films, this version extends the story beyond the final battle of man versus whale in a variation on Melville's book.

[8] Due to the success of this film, an all-talking version was released in 1930 under Melville's original book title, with Barrymore again in the role of Captain Ahab.

He found Costello's performance “praiseworthy” noted the "energy, earnestness and virility" John Barrymore displayed in the role of Ahab Ceeley, stating that his "real triumph in this photoplay comes in the second half of the picture, for he has a great opportunity as the grim master of a whaler with a mixed crew of half-mad yellow, white and black scum".

It's too gruemsome for the sensitive souls... Dolores Costello's beauty is a delight to behold, and her acting is unbelievably good for a comparative newcomer.

The scene in which she first sees the havoc wrought upon her lover by the white whale reaches artistic heights that leave one trembling.