Herman Melville: Damned in Paradise (1985)

From the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia to the New York City docks where he worked as a customs inspector, this outstanding documentary tracks the personal and intellectual adventures of Herman Melville, one of the greatest talents in American literary history. Narrated by John Huston, the film includes readings and commentary by F. Murray Abraham, Robert Penn Warren, Alfred Kazan, and other notable writers and critics.