The Hurricane (1937)

A Polynesian sailor who's unjustly imprisoned after a saloon brawl is relentlessly persecuted by his island's martinet French governor.

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Dudley Nichols (screen play), Oliver H.P. Garrett (adaptation),

Stars:

Dorothy Lamour, Jon Hall, Mary Astor

Won 1 Oscar. Another 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dorothy Lamour	...	Marama
Jon Hall	...	Terangi
Mary Astor	...	Mme. DeLaage
C. Aubrey Smith	...	Father Paul
Thomas Mitchell	...	Dr. Kersaint
Raymond Massey	...	DeLaage
John Carradine	...	Warden
Jerome Cowan	...	Captain Nagle
Al Kikume	...	Chief Mehevi
Kuulei De Clercq	...	Tita
Layne Tom Jr.	...	Mako
Mamo Clark	...	Hitia
Movita	...	Arai (as Movita Castenada)

Storyline

In the Island of Manukura, a French colony in the South Seas, the joyful Terangi is a leader among the natives and the first mate of the Katopua, the tall ship of Captain Nagle. Terangi gets married with Marama and sooner he sails to Tahiti. While in a bar playing with other natives, Terangi is offended by an alcoholic racist French and he hits his face, breaking his jaw. Despite the testimony of Captain Nagle, Terangi is sentenced to six months of forced labor since the victim had political connections with the Powers That Be. Captain Nagle asks the Governor Eugene DeLaage to uses his influence to help Terangi, but the governor refuses. Terangi unsuccessfully tries to escape from the prison, and each attempt increases his sentence. Eight years later, he finally escapes and his jailbreak is celebrated in Manukura. Father Paul finds his canoe and brings Terangi to the island. But a devastating hurricane also arrives in the island threatening the dwellers.

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Plot Keywords:

island | governor | native | hurricane | tahiti | 

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Taglines:

Through miles of raging ocean he defied man's law!

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1938 (Austria)

Also Known As:

...dann kam der Orkan

Filming Locations:

Pago Pago, American Samoa

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Samuel Goldwyn Company, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min 103 min (video) 104 min (TCM print)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Charles Locher officially changed his name professionally to Jon Hall with this picture in order to capitalize on his real life relationship to "The Hurricane"'s co-author, James Norman Hall.

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Quotes

Abusive Drunk: [to Terangi's friends] "Get up! Get up I said!
[2 people flee the table, Terangi does not move]
Abusive Drunk: [to Terangi] "Clear out! Get up when a white man tells ya!
[he hits Terangi, Terangi hits him back, breaking his jaw]

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Connections

Referenced in Have You Got Any Castles? (1938)

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Soundtracks

"The Wedding March"
(1843) (uncredited)
from "A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op.61"
Written by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
Played at the wedding

User Reviews

The Fury of Nature

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.