The Hurricane

John Ford directs this 1937 drama of Western civilization colliding with native culture in the South Seas, based on the novel by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall (authors of Mutiny on the Bounty). Jon Hall plays young Polynesian hero Terangi, a native of Tahiti who has become a respected first mate on an American ship, and Dorothy Lamour is his innocent Tahitian bride. Although the pair receive top billing, the film spends as much time (if not more) with the array of other Caucasian characters in paradise: a philosophical alcoholic doctor (Thomas Mitchell), a priest devoted to the islanders (C. Aubrey Smith), and the new island governor (Raymond Massey)—the latter a strict, stiff martinet whose devotion to the letter of the Napoleonic Code allows no room for justice or compassion. Mary Astor plays the governor's wife and conscience, although he refuses to listen to either when he sentences Terangi to hard labor for assaulting a racist white man. The titular hurricane arrives in the final act, whipping up a deadly storm while Terangi struggles to get home. The Hurricane was a big commercial success in 1937 but remains one of Ford's lesser films. The characters are more debate positions than developed personalities, the natives are holy innocents, the film is shot largely in the studio (which does no service to the exotic setting), and the wrath of God finale makes for a confused metaphor in that it destroys innocent islanders (who are no better than extras in the drama) while sparing the Western interlopers. Still, this does feature a fine cast and a spectacular storm sequence. Extras include an audio commentary by film historian Joseph McBride. A strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)