The Hurricane

The story line of this movie gets a bit fanciful at times, but it doesn't get out of hand and the movie does not pretend to be anything it isn't, so I think most people well enjoy it.

There are several fine performances. My favorite is that of Raymond Massey as he is very convincing in the thankless role of a cold-hearted governer who towards the end shows a sadistic side and then, at the very end of the movie, shows that there is good in everybody.

Then there is the hurricane itself. Naturally I have not seen every movie ever made, but seeing how this movie predates the computer age the hurricane is surely the greatest special effects in movie history.

Jon Hall, Dorothy Lamour and an excellent cast are all caught in "The Hurricane," a 1937 film and the first to win a Special Effects Oscar. The original novel was written by Jon Hall's uncle.

On the island of Manakoora, Terangi (Hall) and Marama (Lamour) marry amidst a happy celebration, though their happiness will be short-lived. Terangi must deliver cargo to Tahiti, though Marama has a premonition about the trip and warns him not to go.

While in Tahiti, he gets into a barroom fight and is sentenced to 6 months in prison. The governor of Manakoora, DeLaage (Raymond Massey), despite the urgings of his friends and his wife (Mary Astor) refuses to ask for Terangi to be brought back to Manakoora and put on parole.

Unable to endure a life with no freedom, and desperate to get back home, Terangi continually attempts to escape. Each time he does, 2 years are added to his sentence until he has to serve 16 years.

At last, Terangi escapes and makes his way back to his island, where he meets his daughter for the first time. Knowing that DeLaage will capture him and return him to Tahiti, islanders prepare to help the family sail to another island. But a hurricane (actually a typhoon) strikes.

Besides those mentioned, "The Hurricane" also stars Thomas Mitchell as the French doctor on Manakoora, C. Aubrey Smith as the local priest, Jerome Cowan as Terangi's captain, and John Carradine as a sadistic prison guard.

The effects are astounding and are a no-miss, particularly considering it is 1937! The tremendous winds, the rising waters, the trees falling, buildings collapsing - all magnificent.

John Ford did an excellent job of directing this film, which has racism as its underpinning - the prison sentence was the result of a so-called dark man hitting a white man; and DeLaage's patrician and cruel attitude has racism at the base of it

I disagree with one of the comments that states that Hall was a white-skinned movie star trying to pass himself off as a dark man; Hall's mother was Tahitian.

Dorothy Lamour, exotic and beautiful, has very little to do in this film except look frightened and lovely - you can count her lines on one hand.

Hall, a total hunk if there ever was one, has more to say and do but one is so distracted by his face and physique that it becomes difficult to pay attention to anything else. The acting burden falls to Mitchell, Massey, Astor, Carradine, and Cowan, who are terrific.

Ford isn't known for his tales of the sea, but obviously he was good at everything. He wouldn't see water again until the 1950s. Lamour carried on the sarong tradition in better roles, and Hall worked into the mid-'60s; at the age of 65, dying of cancer and in excruciating pain, he shot himself.

Highly recommended as a feast of skin and brilliant special effects.

It took John Ford another 18 years to get back to the south seas as a film location after his award winning The Hurricane. He had an incomplete trip with Mister Roberts in 1955, but then made it back for Donovan's Reef in 1963.

Both The Hurricane and Donovan's Reef deal with racism and have as their settings, French colonial possessions in the south Pacific. Of course Donovan's Reef takes a far more light hearted approach. In both films Ford feels that colonialism is at best a mixed blessing for the native populace.

Jon Hall is a happy and content resident of the small island of Manakoora with a new wife. He's a sailor by trade, first mate on a ship captained by Jerome Cowan. While in Tahiti he defends himself in a barroom brawl, but gets sentenced for assault because he struck a white man. An obnoxious lout with political influence. His lot is made worse with repeated attempts to escape adding time on his sentence and all kinds of torture, physical and psychological, by a cruel guard played by John Carradine.

Meanwhile back on Manakoora wife Dorothy Lamour gives birth to a child and Hall becomes something of a native folk hero. That's most unsettling to the Governor Raymond Massey. Massey is one uptight dude with a lot of issues. He says he's defending the law, but he knows he's defending the concept of white supremacy and that fact isn't escaping any of his peers including his own wife Mary Astor.

Thomas Mitchell got nominated for his performance as a doctor with a bit of a thirst problem on Manakoora. A decent man, he's revolted by a lot of what he sees. As is C. Aubrey Smith the priest. Both Mitchell and Smith take comfort where they can, Mitchell in booze, Smith in his Catholic faith. Mitchell lost to Joseph Schildkraut for Best Supporting Actor, but two years later won with essentially the same role in Stagecoach.

The Hurricane won the very first Oscar given out for Special Effects and the hurricane which should have been called a typhoon in that part of the world even today is something to see. You will not forget the fury of nature that destroys C. Aubrey Smith's church. This ain't your Wizard of Oz type storm.

JON HALL stars as a hot-tempered native on a fictional South Seas island called Manakoora, run by a strict martinet of a governor, played by RAYMOND MASSEY. After petty theft and a brawl, Hall is hauled into jail and given a strict sentence that separates him from his new wife, a native girl Marama played by DOROTHY LAMOUR.

Hall and Lamour are both in their physical prime. Hunky Hall is shown to advantage in the central role in a series of adventurous escapes from prison, climaxed by his authority in leading some of the islanders to safety during the climactic storm. Close-ups magnify Lamour's sultry beauty and handsome Hall is likewise photographed like a Greek God in profile. Ford has directed a film rich in character and settings with some stunning B&W photography.

Aside from the leads, good character roles are abundant. RAYMOND MASSEY, MARY ASTOR (as his loyal wife), THOMAS MITCHELL (another one of his drunken doctor roles) and JOHN CARRADINE as a sadistic warden, are all memorable.

Escapist entertainment with a South Seas setting and two photogenic co-stars who would both move on to better things in the '40s. But Jon Hall never had a better role than he does here as Terangi, the resourceful man who dives off a steep cliff into the calm waters of an enchanted island paradise during one of his many escapes.

As for "the hurricane", it's so realistic that you have to see it to believe it. And all this was before CGI effects--a brilliant job.

Alfred Newman's exotic background music is woven around a theme later called "The Moon of Manakoora" and turned into a popular song for Dorothy Lamour to warble. After seeing her in this film, no wonder she became the sarong girl of the '40s.

The South Seas island of Manikoora is alive with happiness on the day of the wedding of Terangi and Marama. Terangi has his honeymoon cut short, when he has to sail to deliver cargo to Tahiti. Terangi's visit to Tahiti becomes hell when he slugs a man in a barroom brawl and is unjustly sentenced to six months in prison mainly because he as a native islander hit a white man. Terangi repeatedly tries to escape and is caught each time, only to add more years to his sentence. Back on Manikoora, Governor De Laage makes no effort to release Terangi because in his mind Terangi is a law breaker and deserves to be punished, despite the words of his wife, priest, and island doctor to the otherwise. One night Terangi does manage to escape, even though he unknowingly knocks a guard to the ground, killing him. Father Paul rescues Terangi from the sea and arranges to meet Marama and their daughter Tita. When De Laage learns that Terangi is back on the island, he makes a determined effort to apprehend him, not realizing one of the most devastating hurricanes is coming to strike, which may destroy the whole island. A very good movie. I was expecting much footage of hurricane destruction, I didn't realize the plot aspect of the prison, which was a lot more than plot filler. Hall and Lamour were good, even though I enjoyed their movies from the 40's a lot better. Massey gives one of the best performances of his long career as De Laage, as a heartless and sadistic fellow. The special effects are amazing, even by 2004 standards. Beautiful on-location photography as well. Rating, 9.