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:

man wears a swimsuit | volcano | native girl | island | bare chested male bondage | 

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Taglines:

Smash! GO ALL RECORDS! THOUSANDS RUSH TO SEE..THE GRANDEST ROMANCE EVER WRITTEN! (Print Ad- Deseret News, ((Salt Lake City, Utah)) 2 September 1932)

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dolores del Rio appears nude in the underwater love scene. All you can see is her exposed butt and a brief glimpse of side breast. Her front side is hidden in shadows.

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Quotes

Johnny Baker: Say, I feel like a potato bug. We can't run under these leaves every time it rains. I've got to build a house!
Luana: 'ouse?
Johnny Baker: Yeah! A place to live in. Shelter. You know, a place to sleep.
Luana: He-hit-ta-ho-a-hair-ra-ha. He-ah-he-ha!
[kiss-kiss-kiss]
Luana: He-ah-he-ha!
[kiss]
Johnny Baker: Oh, yeah. Well, that too!

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Connections

Featured in Arena: Screen Goddesses (2012)

User Reviews

An Enjoyable Way to Spend An Hour

While the plot of this film may seem trite to us today, it was fresh and original in 1932 when it was made. This may well have been the first "throw the girl into the volcano" movie. Considering the technical limitations of film-making in 1932, the photography and special effects are quite good: the whirlpool, the erupting volcano and the river of lava.

Contradicting other postings to this website, I did not see a "rape" scene. What I saw was the male lead chase the female lead after she had been teasing him, then he wrestled her and pinned her down to introduce her to Western-style kissing. A rapist doesn't kiss his victim, and a rape victim would not want her attacker to continue kissing her.

The action of the plot moves quickly and is never bogged down by the dialog. This is an entertaining film, which you could view as you would any antique: it's charming for the era in which it was created.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Hawaiian

Release Date:

12 August 1932 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bird of Paradise

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$752,000 (estimated)

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