The film tells a fictionalized version of the Pilgrims' voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to North America aboard the Mayflower. During the long sea voyage, Capt. Christopher Jones falls in love with Dorothy Bradford, the wife of William Bradford. The love triangle is resolved in a tragic way at the film's conclusion. Ship's carpenter John Alden — said to be the first person to set foot on Plymouth Rock in 1620 — catches the eye of Priscilla Mullins, one of the young Pilgrims following William Bradford. Alden ultimately wins Priscilla in another, if subtler, triangle with Miles Standish.
Schary said at the time "I don't think that historical era has been done properly on screen before because the people were too soft. The pilgrims had to be tough and lusty to accomplish what they did. So that's the kind we cast in the film."[5]
Reception
According to MGM records, the film earned $1,909,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $1,116,000 elsewhere; but, because of its high cost, ended up incurring a loss of $1,856,000.[1]
Major film reviewers in newspapers and magazines tended to praise the film's production values, while noting to different degrees performances and lapses in historical accuracy.[6]
Awards and honors
The picture won the Oscar for Best Effects.
The actual model of the Mayflower ship from the movie is on display at the Original Benjamin's Calabash Seafood restaurant in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The model was purchased in an auction in the mid-1980s.
^Hopper, Hedda (27 July 1952). "MAN WITH A MISSION!: Chief of M-G-M Studio Believes All Men Are Created Equal and Practices What He Preaches! DORE SCHARY". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. c6. ProQuest178268967.
^A bibliography of contemporary reviews, some of them annotated, can be found at Reel American History
