Duke Kahanamoku Movies
The winner of the 100-meter freestyle swimming event at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, Hawaiian star athlete Duke Kahanamoku repeated that feat at the games at Antwerp, Belgium, six years later, finishing second to Johnny Weissmuller at the 1924 Paris Olympics. Kahanamoku attempted to cash in on his fame by appearing in such Hollywood potboilers as Lord Jim (1926) and the Mascot serial The Isle of Sunken Gold (1927), but screen producers saw him mostly as an exotic villain or the odd South Seas Island native and true stardom eluded him. Better known perhaps for his surfing ability, Kahanamoku continued to make screen appearances through John Ford's Mister Roberts (1955), in which he once again played a Native chief. His death in 1968 was attributed to a heart attack. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
Henry Fonda returned to films after an eight-year absence in this masterful adaptation of the actor's Broadway hit Mister Roberts. Written and partially directed by Joshua Logan, the film stars Fonda as Lt. Doug Roberts, chief cargo officer of the supply ship "Reluctant." WW2 is in its last few months, and Roberts is itching for combat duty. But the Reluctant's surly, despotic captain (James Cagney), anxious to use Roberts to expedite his own promotion, refuses to sign any of Roberts' transfer requests. Helping to brighten Mister Roberts' humdrum existence are his best friends, Ensign Frank Pulver (Jack Lemmon, in an Oscar-winning performance) and the ship's philosophical doctor (William Powell, in his final film appearance). Most of the laughs are provided by Pulver, officer "in charge of laundry and morale." When he isn't wheeling and dealing to bring a bevy of beautiful nurses on board the Reluctant, Pulver is concocting elaborate schemes to avenge himself against the Captain -- even though he's spent 14 months on the Reluctant without ever meeting his nemesis. The film's highlights include the efforts by Roberts, Pulver, and Doc to mix a bottle of Scotch from Coca-Cola, Iodine, and other vital ingredients; and Mister Roberts' (and later Ensign Pulver's) assertion of manhood by tossing the Captain's precious palm tree overboard. Halfway through shooting, legendary director John Ford was replaced, ostensibly because of illness, by Mervyn LeRoy. One of the finest service comedies ever made, Mister Roberts spawned a less amusing sequel, Ensign Pulver (1964), as well as a 1965 TV sitcom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Fonda, James Cagney, (more)
This unusual, dreamlike John Wayne vehicle is set in the East Indies. The focus of the film is the deadly rivalry between two men of the sea. Ship's captain Rails (John Wayne) nurses a long-standing grudge against shipping magnate Van Schreeven (Luther Adler). The reason for the animosity: Van Schreeven stole away Rails' love, Angelique (Gail Russell). Revenge has warped Rails to point that sometimes he seems to be the heavy of the picture. Complications involving valuable pearls ensue before the offbeat climax, which finds Rails scuttling his own vessel, the Red Witch, as means of getting even. The film's resolution is one of the strangest ever concocted for a Wayne picture. Wake of the Red Witch represented the second screen teaming of John Wayne and Gail Russell; the film must also have held some special significance for Wayne, since he named his own production company, Batjac, after the shipping firm depicted in the picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Gail Russell, (more)
- 1930
In this melodramatic blend of romance and adventure set in the South Seas, Stella Blackney (Betty Compson) is married to Tom Shane (Noah Beery), an American exploring and exploiting the region. Stella has grown disenchanted with Tom, and decides to leave him in favor of dashing David Wade (Monte Blue). However, Stella's decision to build a life on her own is seriously hampered when she's captured by angry natives. David and Tom set aside their obvious differences and set out to rescue Stella, but David soon finds himself pursued by seductive native beauty Moira (Myrna Loy). Among the "angry natives" in the supporting cast is Duke Kahanamoku, a gifted swimmer who won medals in the 1912, 1920 and 1924 Olympic games. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Monte Blue, Myrna Loy, (more)
- 1930
The Girl of the Port is a showgirl (Sally O'Neil), who finds herself stranded on the island of Fiji. While seeking a way home, she falls in love with an English nobleman (Reginald Sharland), who has come to Fiji to overcome his wartime-induced fear of fire. The nobleman's phobia again comes to surface when the showgirl's self-appointed boyfriend (Mitchell Lewis) forces our hero to participate in a Fijian fire-walking ritual. With the heroine's help, the nobleman overcomes his terror and trounces his rival. Its intriguing storyline notwithstanding, this was one picture that could really have used a stronger cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sally O'Neil, Reginald Sharland, (more)
- 1929
Star Lon Chaney Sr. and director Tod Browning bade adieu to the silent-movie era with 1929's Where East is East. His face covered with hideous scars (convincingly applied with nonflexible collodion), Chaney is cast as weather-beaten animal trapper Tiger Haynes, at present living and working in Indochina. Haynes' loving relationship with his nubile half-caste daughter Toyo (Lupe Velez) is threatened by the return of Toyo's scheming mother, Madame Da Sylva (Estelle Taylor). Still harboring a grudge against Tiger, the Madame decides to get even by stealing Toyo's sweetheart Bobby (Lloyd Hughes) away from her. The villainess also intends to destroy Haynes by turning his animal "pets" against him. But the Madame is herself destroyed by Haynes' loyal gorilla, who in a gruesome (but largely unseen) finale tears the viperish woman apart. A typically morbid entry in the Chaney-Browning series, Where East is East may elicit more laughs than chills when seen today. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lon Chaney, Lupe Velez, (more)
- 1929
This drama, based on a Joseph Conrad novel, follows the exploits of a British adventurer who helps hide an island prince and his sister after they are chased out of their village by rebellious natives. The adventurer then tries to help the prince reclaim his home, but he is waylaid by a wealthy English couple who have sailed their yacht into his area. Soon he and the wealthy wife are having an affair. When the angry natives forcibly board the ship, the woman runs to get the adventurer's help, but they get caught up in mutual lust and by the time they get back to the boat, they learn that the ship was blown up along with everyone on board, including the woman's husband. The guilty adventurer sends the woman away and spends his life as a hermit. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alfred Hickman
- 1928
William Russell is appropriately cast as "The Ne'er-do-well" in the 1928 military comedy Woman Wise. Stationed in Persia, Russell is but one of several soldiers vying for the hand of Millie Baxter (June Collyer), secretary to the U.S. Consul (Walter Pidgeon), who likewise has a hankering for the heroine. Sheik Abdul Mustapha (Theodore Kosloff) is so smitten by Millie that he kidnaps her and adds her to his harem. Our hero manages to rescue the girl, only to lose her to the Consul -- who frankly, is the best-looking of the batch. It's highly likely that Woman Wise was inspired by the success of Lewis Milestone's Two Arabian Knights. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Russell, June Collyer, (more)
- 1926
Long derided by film historians as a talented but visually unimaginative director, James Cruze made up for any and all past artistic sins with his rousing Old Ironsides. Per its title, this 11-reel silent film is set at the time of Stephen Decatur's defeat of the Barbary pirates in Tripoli. Decatur himself (played by comic actor Johnnie Walker) is a secondary character herein -- most of the screen time goes to the romantic leads, able-bodied seaman Charles Farrell and damsel-in-permanent-distress Esther Ralston. The acting honors go to those inveterate scene-stealers Wallace Beery and George Bancroft, cast respectively as Bos'n and Gunner. The film accommodates everything from outsized sea battles to a daring rescue from the clutches of the lustful pirates. A life-sized replica of "Old Ironsides" (aka the "Constitution") was built for the film; it remained a useful piece of bric-a-brac for many a subsequent Paramount seafaring epic. When originally released, the film utilized a wide-screen technique during many of the battle sequences. The videocassette version of Old Ironsides is, of course, unable to convey this, but it does have the bonus of a rousing musical score by Gaylord Carter. This print, incidentally, is crystal clear, enabling sharp-eyed viewers to spot Boris Karloff in a bit as a menacing Saracen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Esther Ralston, Charles Farrell, (more)
- 1925
Almost 30 years before the Peter O'Toole picture, Joseph Conrad's novel was first filmed as a silent. It was directed in typically virile manner by Victor Fleming, starred Percy Marmont as Jim, and was actually truer to the novel than the 1964 version. Jim is a seaman under the despicable Captain Brown (Noah Beery). When his ship, carrying a load of Muslims on their way to Mecca, collides with a derelict vessel, the captain and his crew -- Jim included -- desert. As a result, Jim loses his mate's certificate. Eventually a sympathetic merchant finds him work in a Malay settlement. He works his way up in the hierarchy, eventually taking over the management of the trading post after Cornelius (Raymond Hatton), and sharing leadership with the Rajah's son. Jim also comes to love Cornelius' daughter, Jewel (Shirley Mason). Brown and his crew, also blacklisted, have become pirates, and they attack the village. Although they are captured, Jim orders them to be released. They kill the Rajah's son, and Jim pays for their act with his own life. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Percy Marmont, Shirley Mason, (more)
- 1925
Adventure was an appropriate title for a book by Jack London, and when his tale of the South Seas was made into a film, the virile Victor Fleming was the right man to direct it. David Shelton, a plantation owner (Tom Moore), is faced with ruin because some of his native workers are sick and the healthy ones are about to revolt. Morgan (Wallace Beery) and Baff (Raymond Hatton), a pair of crooked money lenders, are about to foreclose when Shelton falls ill with fever. Joan Lackland, a female soldier of fortune (Pauline Starke), shows up (with her Hawaiian bodyguards, no less) to save the day. She nurses him back to health while her bodyguards get the natives under control. Joan turns down Sheldon's offer of marriage, but she reconsiders when he rescues her from a trap that Morgan and Baff have set for her. Twenty years later, Fleming made another film by the same name starring Clark Gable. That picture, however, was not based on the Jack London book, but on The Anointed by Clyde Brion Davis. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Moore, Pauline Starke, (more)
