DeMille epic about salvagers off the Georgia coast and Key west in the 1840s where takes place several ship wrecks . Mighty thrills with the screen's most romantic adventurer , including a fine cast , lesser story , and nice underwater cinematography . Along the Florida Keys, the beauty Loxi Claiborne (Paulette Goddard) along with the old captain Philip (Lynne Overman) carry out ship salvage business, rivalled only by the ruthless and unscrupulous King Cutler (Raymond Massey) and his brother Dan (Robert Preston) . As Loxi and Philip contend with Cutler taking place unexpected consequences . Meanwhile , Loxi rescues and falls in love with Jack Stuart (John Wayne), who comes to believe that his contender for Loxi, Stephen Tolliver (Ray Milland) , has sabotaged his chance at a new ship.
This is an exciting 19th century romp dealing with the freight route of America's Eastern seaboard prey to cruel salvagers along with the treacherous Florida coast . Adventure/romance/action movie featuring Wayne as a tough captain , the nasty Raymond Massey and a giant squid. It packs great sea spectacle , fist fights , shipwrecks , voodoo drums , lavish balls , dreary courtroom confrontation and a breathtaking giant octopus saves the day .Based on a novel published on Evening Post 1940 , being adapted by Jesse Lasky Jr , Charles Bennett, and Alan Le May . As Cecil DeMille who had directed in 1938 The Buccaneer referred to the famous battlle 1812 between the British and the USA in which pirate Jean Lafitte took part in the New Orleans battle . Then , Cecil along with his collaborators : Willam H Pine , Victor Milner , Arigley , Anderson from previous film made another epic , this ¨Reap of the woild wind¨in similar style and during 8 weeks . Being assisted by a real ship captain , Frank Ellis as technical assistant . John Wayne gives a good acting , as usual , as the stubborn captain who mistaken but vengeful joins forces with an enemy with tragic results. Flighty Southern belle Paulette Goddard is gorgeous as Loxi who soon finds herself turned apart between Milland's dandish insurance inspector and Wayne's brawny captain . Ray Milland arranges to put in a credible acting despite an embarrassing suit and a penchant for canine ventriloquism . Raymond Massey provides the best acting as an extreme villain , the ambitious , rolling-eyed salvager Cutler . Suport cast is pretty good , such as Lynne Overman , Martha O'Driscoll , Susan Hayward , Charles Bickford , Hedda Hooper , Walter Hampden , Beavers , and Robert Preston , among others .
It displays a colorful photography from Victor Milmer , and William Skall , shot on location in South Carolina, Kay West and Florida . Including excellent special effects by Academy Award winning Gordon Jennings . Along with impressive production design by Hans Dreier . Thrilling as well as romantic musical score by the classic Victor Young . This vigorous motion picture was realized in Cecil B DeMille's ordinary style , supported by a magnificent second unit by Harold Rosson ; both of them made some greatests spectacles of all time . Although a nimbler action filmmaker than Cecil might have made even more of the Oscar-winning effects work . Cecil produced and directed 70 films and was involved in many more . Many of his films were romantic sexual comedies , as he is supposed to have believed that Americans were curious only about money and sex . His best-known were biblical epics that further established him as the symbol of Hollywood such as King of Kings (1927), The ten Commandments (1923) , The Crusades (1935) and , of course , Charlton Heston's Ten commandments (1956) and he made two versions about The Buccaneer : 1938 and 1958 that was ended by Anthony Quinn and Arthur Rosson .
