IMDb > The Hurricane (1937)
The Hurricane
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The Hurricane (1937) More at IMDbPro »

Videos (see all 2 NEW)
The Hurricane (1937) -- Open-ended Trailer from Universal
The Hurricane (1937) -- Open-ended Trailer from Universal

Overview

User Rating:
7.3/10   758 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 18% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
John Ford
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Writers:
Dudley Nichols (screenplay)
Oliver H.P. Garrett (adaptation)
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Contact:
View company contact information for The Hurricane on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
1938 (Austria) more
Genre:
Action | Drama | Romance more
Tagline:
South Sea Adventure Calls more
Plot:
In the days of the tall ships and colonial rule of the South Pacific, a naive native sailor working... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 2 nominations more
User Comments:
The Fury of Nature more (32 total)

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)
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Additional Details

Runtime:
110 min | 103 min (video) | USA:104 min (TCM print)
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)
Certification:
USA:Approved (PCA #3779) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | UK:A
Filming Locations:
Pago Pago, American Samoa more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
According to Life Magazine, special effects wizard James Basevi was given a budget of $400,000 to create his effects. He spent $150,000 to build a native village with a lagoon 200 yards long, and then spent $250,000 destroying it. more
Quotes:
Madame Germaine De Laage: [storm is relentlessly pounding the church, people inside hear the sea gaining on the church]
Madame Germaine De Laage: Father, will the sea rise and cover the island?
Father Paul: We're on the highest part here, my daughter. Even if the sea reaches us, the walls will keep it out.
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Movie Connections:
Featured in Rock Hudson's Home Movies (1992) more
Soundtrack:
Moon of Manakoora more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
10 out of 12 people found the following comment useful.
The Fury of Nature, 22 November 2006
8/10
Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

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.

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Has any cast ever looked better??? star52-2
good special effects ksf-2
John Hall was 1/2 Tahitian bobcan653
the governor of tahiti pecss6
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