Reap the Wild Wind (A or 4/4 stars)
Cecil B. DeMille's Technicolor spectacle 'Reap the Wild Wind', set in the 1840s, unfolds in Key West, Florida, where pirates make it difficult for legitimate salvagers to make an honest living. Cutthroat pirate King Cutler (Raymond Massey) schemes & causes the wreck of Capt. Jack Stuart's (John Wayne) vessel on a reef, just like he has caused many others. While Cutler seizes the cargo with his partner-in-crime brother Dan (Robert Preston), fiery Southern belle Loxi Claiborne (Paulette Goddard), who runs a rival salvaging ship firm, heads-out to the same wreck, rescues Jack (injured by Cutler's crew), & nurses him back to health in her Key West mansion. During this recovery period, naturally, Loxi & Jack fall in love, and Jack divulges 3 dreams: 1) to captain a modern steam vessel named the Southern Cross. 2) To take over the Devereaux shipping co. And 3) to marry Loxi {aww}.
The story then moves to Charleston, S. Carolina, where Loxi is sent to stay with her Aunt Henrietta (Hedda Hopper). There, Loxi meets Steve Tolliver (Ray Milland), the 2nd-in-command of the Devereaux shipping company who winds up falling for Loxi. Annnnd an intense love triangle commences. Loxi manages to sweet talk Steve into giving Jack command of the Southern Cross. But jealous Jack, learning that old man Devereaux died & Steve took over the company, turns to the dark side & joins in Cutler's piracy efforts. This brings about a court trial with Jack being put on the stand for the eventual wreck of the Southern Cross.
The court produces evidence that a stowaway passenger died aboard the ship, even though Jack believes there were no passengers. The stowaway is 'believed' to be Loxi's beloved cousin Drusilla (young Susan Hayward), who is in love with Cutler's handsome brother, Dan. To gain damning evidence against Cutler & to find out if the person murdered below deck was Drusilla ... Jack & Steve offer to go deep-sea diving into the wreck. Everything culminates in a magnificent, if tragic climax involving a squall, a giant squid, & an inner-conscience decision that Jack must face in the throes of danger.
Paulette Goddard is wonderful as Scarlett O'Hara-like Loxi Claiborne. Funny enough, Goddard was 2nd in line to play O'Hara in Gone With the Wind 3 yrs. earlier, & this movie gave her the chance to shine. As Loxi, Goddard is beautiful, lusty, spunky, tempestuous, & tortured in love. But she's a good person beneath all the bravado. And she's funny, too; LOVED a scene in Charleston where Loxi sings a lowly scallywag song in front of her cultured Aunt & her hoity-toity aristocrat guests. I loved Ray Milland's take on Steve Tolliver, as well. His Steve is a good man at heart, but like any flawed human being, falls prey to the romantic entanglements with Loxi & Jack. And in a rare supporting role, John Wayne plays a different type of flawed hero; someone akin to, but not altogether the same as his iconic Western roles. Wayne is dashing, vulnerable, & his dialogue is delivered with a sincerity that you wouldn't always equate with the actor decades later.
'Reap the Wild Wind' is a grand motion picture in the classical sense; and director Cecil B. DeMille wouldn't have it any other way. The color photography is beautiful. The Florida Keys/Charleston locales are alluring. The production design of 19th c. taverns & mansions, as well as the massive ships, are just glorious to look at. The story is narratively & emotionally complex. The aforementioned performances are great. And this film rightfully won the 1942 Academy Award for Visual Effects; thanks to that enormous squid sequence during the climax. This movie, released right after the attack on Pearl Harbor, drew audiences in droves (who wanted to escape the horror of their reality). It also did well with critics; though, many regarded it as a lesser Gone wWth the Wind. To that I say, 'well of course it's a lesser GWTW ... but that doesn't make it bad'. I think it's a very good movie that entertained me to no end.
The story then moves to Charleston, S. Carolina, where Loxi is sent to stay with her Aunt Henrietta (Hedda Hopper). There, Loxi meets Steve Tolliver (Ray Milland), the 2nd-in-command of the Devereaux shipping company who winds up falling for Loxi. Annnnd an intense love triangle commences. Loxi manages to sweet talk Steve into giving Jack command of the Southern Cross. But jealous Jack, learning that old man Devereaux died & Steve took over the company, turns to the dark side & joins in Cutler's piracy efforts. This brings about a court trial with Jack being put on the stand for the eventual wreck of the Southern Cross.
The court produces evidence that a stowaway passenger died aboard the ship, even though Jack believes there were no passengers. The stowaway is 'believed' to be Loxi's beloved cousin Drusilla (young Susan Hayward), who is in love with Cutler's handsome brother, Dan. To gain damning evidence against Cutler & to find out if the person murdered below deck was Drusilla ... Jack & Steve offer to go deep-sea diving into the wreck. Everything culminates in a magnificent, if tragic climax involving a squall, a giant squid, & an inner-conscience decision that Jack must face in the throes of danger.
Paulette Goddard is wonderful as Scarlett O'Hara-like Loxi Claiborne. Funny enough, Goddard was 2nd in line to play O'Hara in Gone With the Wind 3 yrs. earlier, & this movie gave her the chance to shine. As Loxi, Goddard is beautiful, lusty, spunky, tempestuous, & tortured in love. But she's a good person beneath all the bravado. And she's funny, too; LOVED a scene in Charleston where Loxi sings a lowly scallywag song in front of her cultured Aunt & her hoity-toity aristocrat guests. I loved Ray Milland's take on Steve Tolliver, as well. His Steve is a good man at heart, but like any flawed human being, falls prey to the romantic entanglements with Loxi & Jack. And in a rare supporting role, John Wayne plays a different type of flawed hero; someone akin to, but not altogether the same as his iconic Western roles. Wayne is dashing, vulnerable, & his dialogue is delivered with a sincerity that you wouldn't always equate with the actor decades later.
'Reap the Wild Wind' is a grand motion picture in the classical sense; and director Cecil B. DeMille wouldn't have it any other way. The color photography is beautiful. The Florida Keys/Charleston locales are alluring. The production design of 19th c. taverns & mansions, as well as the massive ships, are just glorious to look at. The story is narratively & emotionally complex. The aforementioned performances are great. And this film rightfully won the 1942 Academy Award for Visual Effects; thanks to that enormous squid sequence during the climax. This movie, released right after the attack on Pearl Harbor, drew audiences in droves (who wanted to escape the horror of their reality). It also did well with critics; though, many regarded it as a lesser Gone wWth the Wind. To that I say, 'well of course it's a lesser GWTW ... but that doesn't make it bad'. I think it's a very good movie that entertained me to no end.