The Sea Wolf

A superbly malevolent adaptation of Jack London's story about two fugitives (Garfield and Lupino) who come together on a ship, only to find themselves trapped as witnesses to a demonic battle of wits between Robinson's psychopathic captain (a Bligh in sadism, an Ahab in driven obsession) and an altruistic writer (Knox) attempting to assert intellectual dominion with no other weapon but his understanding. Given Robert Rossen's strikingly literate script, Sol Polito's wonderfully eerie camerawork, and Robinson's terrific performance - all pulling together to elaborate the Luciferian motto borrowed from Milton by which the captain lives, 'Better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven' - this is one of Curtiz's best movies.