The Hurricane (1937)

A Polynesian sailor -- unjustly imprisoned after defending himself against a colonial bully -- is relentlessly persecuted by his island's martinet French governor.

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Dudley Nichols (screen play), Oliver H.P. Garrett (adaptation) (as Oliver H. P. Garrett)

Stars:

Dorothy Lamour, Jon Hall, Mary Astor

Won 1 Oscar. Another 2 nominations.

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)

Storyline

In the Island of Manukura, a French colony in the South Seas, the joyful Terangi is a leader among the natives and the first mate of the Katopua, the tall ship of Captain Nagle. Terangi gets married with Marama and sooner he sails to Tahiti. While in a bar playing with other natives, Terangi is offended by an alcoholic racist French and he hits his face, breaking his jaw. Despite the testimony of Captain Nagle, Terangi is sentenced to six months of forced labor since the victim had political connections with the Powers That Be. Captain Nagle asks the Governor Eugene DeLaage to uses his influence to help Terangi, but the governor refuses. Terangi unsuccessfully tries to escape from the prison, and each attempt increases his sentence. Eight years later, he finally escapes and his jailbreak is celebrated in Manukura. Father Paul finds his canoe and brings Terangi to the island. But a devastating hurricane also arrives in the island threatening the dwellers.

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Plot Keywords:

disaster movie | disaster | island | governor | ship | 

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Taglines:

South Sea Adventure Calls

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1937 (UK)

Also Known As:

Hurricane

Filming Locations:

Pago Pago, American Samoa

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Samuel Goldwyn Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min 103 min (video) 104 min (TCM print)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The native village set was on 2½ acres of United Artists' back lot.

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Goofs

When Terangi (Jon Hall) returns to Manukura after a 600-mile voyage across open ocean from Tahiti, he looks the same as when he left, except for some mild facial hair on his upper lip and his chin. After a voyage that long with no way to shave, he would have had a full beard.

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Quotes

Dr. Kersaint: [Hearing an ominous wind] The Devil's abroad tonight.

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Connections

Featured in Movies Are Adventure (1948)

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Soundtracks

Aloha Oe
(uncredited(
Written by Queen Liliuokalani
Heard at various times during the film and over the closing credits

User Reviews

One Of The Better Adventure Stories Of The '30s

For a film that's billed as a romance movie, this has got a surprising amount of good suspense and action. It's really an adventure story with a romance angle. It's also very interesting and a good film with decent special effects, at least for when this was made.

It's almost a "Count Of Monte Cristo" story with an innocent man imprisoned on an island and finally succeeding in escaping. However, in this story, the escapee "Terangi" (John Hall) also has to battle a hurricane after escaping!

The film starts slowly in the first half hour, but stick with it, it's worth it. The story becomes very involving as "Terangi" begins his battle against "the law," which is not pictured very flattering here. In that respect, the film is ahead of its time with its anti-government message. However, it's behind the times with the typical classic-era white man trying to pass himself off as a dark-skinned island native. Dorothy Lamour is likewise as "Marama," Terangi's wife.

The cinematography is very good and the direction excellent. Then again, one of the best directors of all time did this film: John Ford. It also has a nice cast. Look at the supporting actors: Mary Astor, Raymond Massey, C. Aubrey Smith, Thomas Mitchell and John Carradine!

A solid Golden Age adventure story and one of the best of the 1930s decade.