Bird of Paradise (1932)

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

Director:

King Vidor

Writers:

Richard Walton Tully (play), Wells Root (screenplay)

Stars:

Dolores del Rio, Joel McCrea, John Halliday

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

A young man falls overboard and is saved by a beautiful Polynesian girl. They fall in love, but their idyll is smashed when the local volcano begins to erupt. The man discovers that the local custom is to sacrifice a young woman to the volcanic gods. They try to escape but realize that "east is east and west is west, and never the twain shall meet."

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Plot Keywords:

volcano | native girl | island | bare chested male bondage | beefcake | 

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Taglines:

Hissing Lava Stains the Night with Red! (Print Ad-Peekskill Evening Star,((Peekskill, NY)) 24 September 1932)

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Hawaiian

Release Date:

12 August 1932 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ave do Paraíso

Filming Locations:

Hawaii, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min 82 min (FMC Library Print)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

After seeing the film in 1932, Orson Welles publicly stated to reporters that Dolores del Rio was "the highest erotic ideal" for any red-blooded male. Eight years later, Welles and del Río met at Darryl Zanuck's ranch in Hollywood whereupon they began a relationship. Their relationship was kept secret until 1941, when del Río filed for divorce from her second husband.

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Quotes

Mahumahu: Taboo.
Johnny Baker: Aww... taboo bunk!

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Connections

Featured in David O. Selznick: 'Your New Producer' (1935)

User Reviews

Pre Code Hollywood

This film is a good example of Pre-Code Hollywood Essentially the story of a sailor who falls in love with a native girl, this film has numerous examples of how Hollywood flourished before the production code set in some 3 years later. In most of the film Dolores Del Rio runs around in a straw skirt with nothing but a lei covering her breasts. In scenes where she is swimming, she appears to be totally nude with just some distortion in the water keeping us from seeing her totally naked. Also co-star Joel McCrea spends a good deal of the film walking around in his bathing suit.

The love scenes between McCrea and Del Rio vary. The first time it looks like rape, and Del Rio looks like she is visibly in pain. 3 years later the production code would not permit a white man to wed or be romantically involved with anyone but a white woman.

Among the crew of the ship is Richard "Skeets" Gallagher, who plays a stereotypically gay role, along with another sailor on the ship.

This film is now in the public domain and can frequently be found on television, and is available on DVD.