Red Morning

This is a very pleasant little programmer from RKO, before that meant an episode in a slick series or a noir. Although the story is nothing amazing, you get to see some performers who rarely got a chance to strut their stuff, but who spent most of their careers as dependable stock company members.

In particular, Mitchell Lewis: I just checked his IMDb page, so I know I've seen him dozens, perhaps hundreds of times. Yet, even when he was credited, he rarely was memorable. He was just someone who played the role in support of the star or because a body was needed in that spot. Here, co-starring with Steffi Duna, he puts on a decent Hungarian accent to match hers.

Miss Duna is also very good, with big eyes and a sweet personality. The time for exotic leads was passing, however, pushed out with the enforcement of the Code and its all-American simplicity. Miss Duna would continue to work for another half dozen years as an all-purpose ethnic with dancing thrown in. Usually she was cast as a Mexican or Spaniard. Then she married Dennis O'Keefe and retired.

"Red Morning" is the story of a ship's captain and his daughter, who are betrayed and left to die by crew members who plan to submit a fraudulent cargo insurance claim.

The two survive the scuttling of the ship and seek refuge on a nearby island where the natives are dangerous.

Hungarian actress Steffi Duna plays the part of the daughter, Kara, with a combination of strength and sensitivity. At times--due to her voice and speech patterns--she reminds me of Greta Garbo.

The film has a simple plot that is not so engaging, but the film is a curiosity, especially in the way the director uses stock footage of natives, sometimes in the background. Some scenes are reminiscent of the Tarzan series of films. The sound quality is not the best. Steffi Duna is the best part of the film.