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

King Vidor originally took his cast and crew to Hawaii to shoot exteriors. After numerous technical problems, the weather took a turn for the worst, so hopes of shooting the picture in authentic locations was never realized.

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Quotes

Hector: Boy, that's good! I've eaten worse than this in the Waldorf.

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Connections

Version of Bird of Paradise (1951)

User Reviews

As enjoyable as "Muntiny on the Bounty"

A lovely film to watch for a modern audience if one can see it as it is, a 1932 film with its targeted audience. To enjoy any film requires a suspension of belief. After all it's just flickering lights on a screen wall. But for those with an openness & romantic spirit, even with the artificial, high tech volcano scenes of the day, this is good attitude adjustment of modern life in civilization. Dolores Del Rio was considered the most beautiful woman in film, & she doesn't dissappoint in this film. I felt the film should have done better at the box office & gathered some academy awards, etc. The beauty of the exotic scenes were not so familiar as they are today & the sensuality was unusually well done, especially in that day. I'm afraid the film Code that came out 3 yrs. later permanently perverted the authentic, individualistic creativity of the industry. The movie themes were in contrast to the fearful, "control-freak" reactionary ways that still exists today, & can be seen in other cultures & decades. Ah, the taboo against self-expression, especially one's sensuality & being in control of ones life - whether it's involving one's ovaries or being forced to kill or be killed & destroy other cultures/civilizations (all in the name of good-intention's or anti-terrorism).