BOOTLEG FILES 682: “The Sea Beast” (1926 silent film adaptation of “Moby-Dick”).

LAST SEEN: We cannot confirm last exhibition of this film.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: Only on a DVD of dubious heritage.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Warner Bros., which owns the copyright, has never released it for digital home entertainment.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Maybe some day.

In 1851, Herman Melville’s novel “Moby-Dick” was published. During Melville’s lifetime, the book was a commercial failure – only 3,200 copies were sold in the 40 years between its initial release and the author’s death 1891. It was not until the 1920s that literary scholars re-evaluated the work and recognized its importance as a work of literary art.
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