Bird of Paradise (1932)

Director:

King Vidor

Writers:

Richard Walton Tully (play)
Wells Root (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

12 August 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Romance | Drama

Plot:

A native girl falls for a visitor to her island, but she's chosen to be sacrificed to the volcano god.

Plot Keywords:

Volcano | Island | Love | Native Girl | Rescue From Drowning

Cast

Dolores del Rio	...	Luana
Joel McCrea	...	Johnny Baker
John Halliday	...	Mac
Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher	...	Chester
Bert Roach	...	Hector
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Thornton (as Creighton Chaney)
Wade Boteler	...	Skipper Johnson
Arnold Gray	...	Walker
Reginald Simpson	...	O'Fallon
Napoleon Pukui	...	The King
Agostino Borgato	...	Medicine Man
Sofia Ortega	...	Mahumahu

Directed by
King Vidor

Writing credits
Richard Walton Tully		(play)
Wells Root		(screenplay) &
Wanda Tuchock		(screenplay) &
Leonard Praskins		(screenplay)

Produced by
David O. Selznick	....	executive producer
King Vidor	....	producer

Original Music by
Max Steiner

Cinematography by
Lucien N. Andriot		(photographed by) (as Lucien Andriot)
Edward Cronjager		(photographed by)
Clyde De Vinna		(photographed by) (as Clyde DeVinna)

Film Editing by
Archie Marshek		(as Archie F. Marshek)

Art Direction by
Carroll Clark

Sound Department
Clem Portman	....	sound recordist

Visual Effects by
Lloyd Knechtel	....	photographic effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Robert Coburn	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Eddie Pyle	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Music Department
R.H. Bassett	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Bernhard Kaun	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Busby Berkeley	....	choreographer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1932) (USA) (theatrical)
• Hollywood Classics (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• VCI Home Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Roan Group, The (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Nothing's New Video (2005) (USA) (VHS)
• Europa-Filmverleih AG (1933) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Robert Müller GmbH (1933) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Reel Media International (2007) (non-USA) (all media)
• Video Yesterday (????) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

80 min | USA:82 min (FMC Library Print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone System)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Portugal:M/6

Filming Locations:

Hawaii, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

Dolores del Rio appears to be nude in the underwater love scene. This may be the case, but the lighting makes it hard to tell.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Arena: Screen Goddesses" (2012)

Hammy, sensual, kinky; masochism in the Tropics, Selznick style...

Dolores del Rio is a South Seas island princess who has a taboo affair with a young American sailor after she saves him from a shark; he considers their flirtatious clinches "a lark", but after she's swiped from him by her people, he re-captures her and sails for the remote island of Lani. It took three writers (Leonard Praskins, Wells Root, and Wanda Tuchock) to adapt Richard Walton Tully's play for the screen, though the story is told mostly in visual, elemental terms. Athletic Joel McCrea slides down a steep hill on a leaf, scales a coconut tree without slipping, and jumps from a high cliff into a palm tree without getting so much as a nick. His passion for Dolores' Luana is convincing, though rushed along. The screenwriters tease us with tidbits about a volcano curse, and it isn't long before the lava starts flowing. Executive produced by none other than David O. Selznick, this early "Radio Picture" benefits from the pre-Code era (with some sensual behavior between the leads, and a lovely underwater duet wherein Miss del Rio appears to be nude). McCrea's happy team of mariners come and go and come back again (right on schedule), yet their salty, digging rapport is very lighthearted and amusing, and there's a charming moment at the beginning where they throw souvenirs to the natives. Not a bad early talkie, although special effects certainly had a long way to go--ditto for dramatic acting. Remade in 1951 with Debra Paget. ** from ****