may seem: the actress Priscilla Bonner was fired by Barrymore from the role of Wiscasset, in preference for his lover, actress Dolores Costello, and Bonner successfully sued the studio and won a considerable out-of-court settlement. Barrymore exploited the romantic scenes with Costello to their full potential in the film, displaying a "boyish enthusiasm" according to biographer Margot Peters, which made him fall out with Costello's mother. Barrymore drank heavily during the production of the film, and his eyes were constantly bloodshot, with stubble on his chin. Producer Jack L. Warner said "that's a great makeup job" to director Millard Webb, who retorted, "That's not makeup. It's a hangover". The ship used in the film, The Narwhal, was actually a former fighting ship with decks stained with blood from fights. The theme in the orchestral score is "Love's Old Sweet Song". 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. The 1930 film used the plotline of The Sea Beast rather than following Melville's novel. A German-language version, Daemon des Mers, was filmed simultaneously in Hollywood by Warner Bros. It was directed by William Dieterle, beginning his American career. Reception The Sea Beast proved to be "extremely popular" with the public, and was generally well received by critics when released in January 1926. The romantic scenes between Barrymore and Costello were particularly well received. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., whose father was an old friend of Barrymore's, said he saw the film half a dozen times. The New Castle News of Pennsylvania called it a "remarkable picture" which "represents the finest in motion picture art", considering it to be the biggest picture of the year. The Post-Crescent of Appleton, Wisconsin heavily praised the cast and cinematography, referring to it as "a picture of rich, colorful beauty of heart-searing pathos, of poetry that sings in action of courageous deeds of emotions as violent and eternal as the terrific storms that sweep through the picture". Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times noted the "energy, earnestness and virility" John Barrymore displayed in the role of Ahab Ceeley, and stated 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