South Sea Woman

The early years of World War II is the setting for this action comedy starring Burt Lancaster, Virginia Mayo, and Chuck Connors (his biggest role to date). Directed by Arthur Lubin, it features an Edwin Blum screenplay from a William Rankin-Stanley Shapiro adaptation of William Rankin's play.

Lancaster plays Master Gunnery Sergeant James O'Hearn, whose court martial trial has just begun (Hayden Rorke plays the prosecutor and Cliff Clark is among the officers who sit in judgment). After a series of outlandish sounding charges are read, O'Hearn declines the opportunity to defend himself. However, his court appointed attorney (Bob Sweeney) will mount a defense anyway. A series of witnesses recall the events that lead to the charges, and flashbacks are used to tell their stories.

Ginger Martin (Mayo in the title role) was a displaced showgirl in Southeast Asia that Marine Private Davey White (Connors) was to marry before his Sergeant and mentor O'Hearn intervened. A barroom brawl and their ensuing fight causes the men to miss their ship on its way to sea. Further circumstances keep the AWOL Marines, with Ginger in tow, from returning right away. In fact, for months they are stranded on a remote island commanded by Vichy French sympathizer Pierre Marchand (Leon Askin).

After enjoying the pleasures of hotelier Lillie Duval (Veola Vonn) and her girls, O'Hearn learns that Dutch Captain van Dorck (Rudolph Anders) is really a Nazi that's been placing radar equipment throughout the South Pacific. He then frees or convinces the real deserters, who have made the island their home (including Arthur Shields), to join his plan to steal van Dorck's yacht, after which they discover and disrupt a Japanese invasion fleet by attacking it!

The details of the battle and the outcome of the trial are intertwined; Strother Martin appears as a spectator.

I found my way to this film after seeing Veola Vonn playing "Arlette" a voluptuous painter's model in "Le Fantome de la rue Morgue" (1954) which is loosely based on an Edgar Allan Poe novel.On looking at Veola's film career she seemed to specialise in acting roles playing French ladies of easy virtue and the subject film is typical when she plays Lillie Duval a madame of a brothel on a remote French island.Although she was born in NYK.(1918-1995), I wondered whether she had French parents/relatives or connections to give substance to these roles.

Virginia Mayo first came to my attention in "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946) playing the initially good-time wife of Dana Andrews a returning bombardier officer from the U.S.A.F. being demobbed at the end of WWII.In this film Virginia as "Ginger Martin" shows off her very feminine figure to its best advantage and soon gets Chuck (The Rifleman) Connors (Pvt.Davey White) & Burt Lancaster (Sgt. O'Hearn) squabbling over her and how best to get back into WWII on the side of Uncle Sam.For Burt it must have made a change doing this knockabout comedy after filming the heavy dramatic acting required playing another sergeant in "From Here To Eternity (1953)" in the same year.Coincidentally both films have the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour as a theme.Another face I spotted was Paul Burke (The Naked City - 1960s TV series) playing an ensign at Sgt.O'Hearn's court marshal.

Obviously the plot outlined in other user comments above is comedic and Hollywood stereotypes abound which include (from an American perspective,) all foreigners who cannot speak English but we must remember that these films were produced by Americans for average Americans.I would place the growing international maturity of U.S. film producers from 1962 with "The Longest Day".One obvious editing device used in "South Sea Woman" is to utilise B&W war newsreels of the real WWII U.S./Japanese conflict and splice them into the subject B&W film. Also used were back-projection screens with "real" studio action by the actors.Oh well, c'est la guerre.I rated it 6/10 on purely on an entertainment level.

The title of this movie shouldn't be about a woman but a marine. Actually Burt Lancaster is the big star and Virginia Mayo has a supporting role. My does he look good in that uniform. It reminds me of his role as the sergeant in "From Here to Eternity". He plays the same character in both!

This film has a something for everyone, action, adventure, drama, comedy, and romance. Lancaster and Chuck Conners take on the Japanese invasion fleet and spoil their Guadalcanal landings. Far fetched, I'd say so, but entertaining. The comedy was spotty and corny like the conflict between the Navy and the Marine Corps, the hula dancing in shoes, and Lancaster-Conners interaction. The serious punishment for desertion that awaits Lancaster is waived, and he emerges unscathed as top kick once again. I like Burt Lancaster anytime and in this he doesn't disappoint. You can't spoil a movie with him in it no matter how ho hum it is.

South Sea Woman is a fun, entertaining, and sadly to say, forgotten old movie. Burt Lancaster hand-picked Chuck Connors for the supporting role; what a compliment, and what a debut to the movies! It's a court-martial drama, with Burt facing over one hundred years in prison. Despite having his reputation tarnished and serving the rest of his life in jail, he refuses to give a plea or testify in his defense. Ladies, this will be a fun treat for you. Not only is Burt playing a tough marine, but his strong, silent type is sure to make you love him even more!

Virginia Mayo, in the titular role, can't stand Burt's silence. She takes the stand when he won't and tells the true story. It's a very exciting story that shows so much of his character: strength, loyalty, courage, and selflessness. I would definitely recommend this military drama if you like these types of stories (a defendant refusing to talk is a common story element), if you like Burt, or if you want to see Chuck's film debut. I was a bit skeptical, since Virginia Mayo is no Susan Hayward, but she didn't detract from the drama. For a double feature, you can watch Burt in the same year's From Here to Eternity!

I don't know if the term war oater exixts but I don't care, I have no other word to describe this film, very watchable but worth only for movie buffs like me, from time to time nostalgic of the Hollywood golden years, the last ones, the fifties. Arthur Lubin was guilty of this comedy, after all comedy was his domain, with the exception of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA of course, his best movie. Not the Francis talking mule movie nor Abott and Costello's series. Exotic cinema charm lovers won't be deceived.