Musings: Sonoma film festival marks 82nd anniversary of ‘The Sea Wolf’ debut here

The Sonoma International Film Festival opens March 22-26 and, of course, Sebastiani Theatre will be the primary venue. Exactly 82 years from this year’s festival opening date, Sebastiani Theatre hosted the debut of Warner Brothers’ movie “The Sea Wolf,” based on Jack London’s novel of the same name.

The date was Friday, March 22, 1941.

The lead cast members all came to Sonoma for the occasion, including Edward G. Robinson, Ida Lupino, John Garfield, Gene Lockhart and a young Ronald Reagan (who bought his wife Jane Wyman).

The cast and company sailed from Los Angeles to San Francisco on the luxury liner “America,” which was also used in the filming of the movie. When the ship docked in San Francisco, Charmian London and Irving Shepard, the widow and nephew of Jack London, offered the welcome. They all then participated in a nationally-broadcast radio show, during which Charmian spoke about her late husband’s inspiration behind writing “The Sea Wolf.”

She said, “Much of it was written from Jack’s experience at sea and from contacts with just such brutes, bullies and brilliants as Jack met up with in his former journey through life.”

After meeting San Francisco’s mayor and other dignitaries, the entourage, including the film’s stars, made the trip to Charmian’s home at Jack London Ranch in the Valley of the Moon aboard what was described at the time as “…three of Greyhound’s new and best buses…” They then enjoyed entertainment and a barbecue at the Glen Ellen property. Following the party, Robinson, who plays “Wolf” Larsen, the leading role in the film, and other cast members, came to the Sebastiani Theatre for a personal appearance before the film’s debut.

Even before its premiere in Sonoma, the film was touted by critics as “…one of the greatest and most thrilling dramas of the year.” During his interview, Edward G. Robinson declared it was the most powerful character part he’d ever played. In spite of all the hype, it did not win any Oscars.

The film was nominated for the Oscar for Best Special Effects at the 14th Academy Awards. The Best Picture award that year went to “How Green Was My Valley.” The Best Actor Oscar went to Gary Cooper in “Sergeant York.” Best Actress winner was Joan Fontaine in “Suspicion.”

Compared to our present-day film festival, the 1941 debut and associated events were relatively modest in scale, all arranged and produced by the Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce, which not only prepared all the food and entertainment for the cast and company at the London Ranch, but also handled ticket sales, which included the cast’s appearance prior to the movie.

The theater had a seating capacity of 400 at the time. The tickets were offered for $1.10 each with the proceeds going to cover the cost of hosting the cast and the event.

For more information and tickets for this year’s Sonoma International Film Festival go to sonomafilmfest.org.