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The Hurricane
USA 1937
produced by
Samuel Goldwyn for the Samuel Goldwyn Company
directed by John Ford
starring Dorothy Lamour, Jon Hall, Mary Astor, C. Aubrey Smith, Thomas Mitchell, Raymond Massey, John Carradine, Jerome Cowan, Al Kikume, Kuulei De Clercq, Layne Tom jr, Mamo Clark, Movita, William B. Davidson, Mary Shaw, Pauline Steele, Flora Hayes, Francis Kaai, Anne Chevalier, Spencer Charters, Roger Drake, Inez Courtney, Chris-Pin Martin
screenplay by Dudley Nichols, based on the novel by Charles Nordhoff, James Norman Hall, adaptation by Oliver H.P.Garrett, music by Alfred Newman, special effects by James Basevi, cinematography by Bert Glennon, Paul Eagler, Archie Stout
review by
Mike Haberfelner
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A little island in the South Seas: Terangi (Jon Hall) is madly in love
with Marama (Dorothy Lamour), and since she loves him back, they marry and
conceive a child ... but then, Terangi has to return to his job, first
mate on a small schooner, and while on shoreleave in Tahiti, he gets in a
fistfight with a white man, breaks his jaw - and is convicted to six
months in prison. His love for Marama drives Terangi to try and break out
of prison though, repeatedly and unsuccessfully, and each attempt only
adds more years to his sentence - much top the joy of the sadistic warden
(John Carradine). Back on Terangi's island, colonial gouvernor DeLaage
(Raymond Massey) does nothing to try and free Terangi though, as he prides
himself to stick to the letters of the law to the t, and he loses more and
more support not only from the locals, for whom Terangi is a hero, but
also from his friends like the local doctor (Thomas Mitchell) and the
priest (C.Aubrey Smith), and even from his own wife (Mary Astor). Still,
his pride will not allow him to act on Terangi's behalf. Eight years
have passed, and finally, Terangi makes a successful escape and sails back
to his island in a nutshell, and when almost exhausted he is saved by the
priest, who sees to it that he gets on land safely. But now, Terangi is
charged with murder, because he accidently killed a guard while making his
escape - and now the gouvernor is more determined than ever not only not
to help him but to recapture him, while the natives already help Terangi
in preparing his escape with his wife and daughter (Kuulei
De Clercq). The gouvernor even goes on a search expedition
on the high sea to get hold of Terangi, but meanwhile a hurricane strikes
the island, and Terangi has returned to save his people if possible, but
ultimately, all he saves besides his wife and child is the gouvernor's
wife, and the four of them are left floating on the high sea on a tree and
only eventually make it to a barren island. The gouvernor returns to
find his island erradicated and only a handful of survivors. Desperate, he
goes out onto the sea again to find others who might have survived, and
against all odds, he ultimately finds his wife - and traces of Terangi and
family having made a getaway. It's only now that his humanity wins out
over his professional price and he leaves Terangi and company be ... Definitely
not John Ford's best film, this is however a competently made piece of
escapist adventure. Sure, it's a tad on the cheesy side, but it also makes
excellent use of his exotic locations (which are perfectly integrated into
the plot) and features a greatly conceived hurricane-finale. And while Jon
Hall might be a bit of a lightweight of an actor and Dorothy Lamour isn't
given exactly much to do except for give longing looks, the supporting
cast including Raymond Massey, Thomas Mitchell, C.Aubrey Smith and John
Carradine (at his most despicable) add the necessary colour to the
proceedings. So this is a film you might not want to like, but might find
yourself liking nevertheless.
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amazon.co.uk
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eThaiCD.com
find The Hurricane at adultvideouniverse.com
