Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942)

Cheated out of his estate by his sadistic uncle, young Benjamin Blake goes to the South Seas to make his fortune so he can return to claim his birthright.

Director:

John Cromwell

Writers:

Philip Dunne (screenplay), Edison Marshall (novel)

Stars:

Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, George Sanders

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tyrone Power	...	Benjamin Blake
Gene Tierney	...	Eve
George Sanders	...	Sir Arthur Blake
Frances Farmer	...	Isabel
Roddy McDowall	...	Benjamin - as a Boy
John Carradine	...	Caleb Green
Elsa Lanchester	...	Bristol Isabel
Harry Davenport	...	Amos Kidder
Kay Johnson	...	Helena
Dudley Digges	...	Pratt
Halliwell Hobbes	...	Purdy
Marten Lamont	...	Kenneth Hobart
Arthur Hohl	...	Captain Greenough
Pedro de Cordoba	...	Feenou
Heather Thatcher	...	Maggie Martin

Storyline

Sir Arthur Blake has inherited title and lands from his brother. He also has his orphaned nephew Benjamin working for him as a bonded servant. While he believes the lad was born out of wedlock and so cannot claim the inheritance, he is taking no chances. Benjamin eventually rebels against his uncle and sets sail to try and make his fortune. This may enable him to return to prove his claim to being the rightful heir to the estate.

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Plot Keywords:

uncle | inheritance | revenge | stableboy | flogging | 

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Taglines:

The Story of Benjamin Blake

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 January 1942 (USA)

Also Known As:

Son of Fury

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Last film Frances Farmer was in before her first (October, 1942) of what would be a series of arrests, and jailing and psychiatric confinements in both California and her home state of Washington (her mother, Lillian, became her legal guardian from 1943-1953) that would last until 1950.

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Goofs

About 52 minutes into the movie, Ben (Tyrone Power) gets out of the water to talk to Eve (Gene Tierney) and places his knife and an oyster shell on the rocks. Eve dives in the water and Ben follows without having retrieved his knife but in the next scene, he is shown underwater chasing Eve with the knife between his teeth.

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Quotes

Sir Arthur Blake: How would you like to live with me at Breetham? A gunsmith's forge is no place for a Blake. Plague take me, you have the blood if you were born on the wrong side of the blanket! You'll be brought up as a gentleman.

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Connections

Referenced in Wonder Boys (2000)

User Reviews

the materialization of a romantic dream

Most movies of Hollywood Golden Age are attractive. They share cleverly constructed plot and dialogue, high-standard direction and actors' performances. Perhaps because of the charm of past times, as a rule the characters are very nice guys, even the villains, like in "Son of Fury": who is really able to detest George Sanders? Yet sometimes a motive in the movie makes it outstanding. This is the case of "Son of Fury". In fact it shows the materialization of the most romantic dream of our youth, even improving it: to live in Polynesia and... with Gene Tierney! Gene is the improvement to our own dream. Her capacity to be lovely is unbelievable: just the scene when she uses a fork like a comb would be worth seeing the movie. And what about her polynesian dance in grass-skirt? When Tyrone Power leaves the island to take his revenge in England, the audience is disappointed: we don't see the point in leaving Paradise. The director seems to realize this feeling: in fact, Power's come-back to England is more an act of justice than of revenge. Anyway, we feel relieved when he finally settles his business and returns to the island, to his friends, to her. And there she is, alone on the reef... What is more common in a movie than the final kiss? Yet this one has something special. In that instant, we all are Tyrone Power and she... she is Gene Tierney, what could be better?