Producer Gregory Peck was perceptive when he decided to make a film based on the true life on the youngest person to circumnavigate the world alone. Robin Lee Graham, a sixteen-year-old California youth, took five years to sail 30,600 nautical miles in his twenty-three foot sloop called Dove. Director Charles Jarrott and cinematographer Sven Nykvist have caught all the drama and color of his sea adventure now in a movie shot on locations around the globe (the South Pacific, Australia, the Indian Ocean, South Africa, the Caribbean, the Galapagos, etc.)

Joseph Bottoms plays the young boy who takes on the elements in order to fulfill his dream. On the sea we experience Graham's near collision with a large ship, his near death in a tumultuous storm, and his despair during a period of no wind. Besides being a great adventure story, The Dove is a touching love story. Deborah Raffin plays Patti, an American girl Graham met on his travels who proved to be the inspiration for the young sailor. John McLaim is featured as Graham's sea-faring father who eventually is forced to realize that he can't live through his son's exploits.

The Dove is recommended for mature youth groups. Graham's exploits and his accompanying struggle to sort out his feelings about himself and his loyalties to family and girlfriend are fascinating and provocative.