Great Wayne performance!


It's too bad these great old films are all but ignored these days--especially the black and white movies. I know very few people who have even heard of this film, let alone seen it, and they are missing one of John Wayne's best performances. The film is not without flaws, but has so many things going for it--a great romance, a great study of a symbiotic relationship (between Wayne and Luther Adler as rivals who hate, but respect one another), the beautiful Gail Russell in one of her few films, and that mesmerizing performance by Wayne. Hey, read my review at: <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040946/usercomments-7>; and then vote on whether you found it helpful or not. Cheerio!

"I'm a lover of beauty--and a beauty of a lover!"--The Court Jester

reply

[deleted]

does johnny die at the end of this???

reply

Well, I don't usually like telling people the endings of movies--so see it. It's definitely worth a look as I note above.

"Nothing in this world is more surprising than the attack without mercy!"--Little Big Man

reply

[deleted]

Well, he DOES in fact die from drowning, though this is brought about because of the fact that the ship, resting precariously over an abyss, topples over it in a storm, taking the complicated Captain with it.

"Nothing in this world is more surprising than the attack without mercy!"--Little Big Man

reply

[deleted]

"STOP"? Stop what?

Incidentally, you have a question mark after listing The Sea Chase as a film in which Wayne dies. I admit my memory of the film is sketchy. I recall he runs up his German Imperial Battle Flag and then is blown out of the water. Was there some doubt about his demise? I don't recall.

"Nothing in this world is more surprising than the attack without mercy!"--Little Big Man [bigfeek]

reply

[deleted]

[SPOILERS]Certainly, saying Wayne drowns and leaving it at that is not telling the whole story, though clearly he DOES in fact drown. Saying he was killed by a squid also discounts part of the story. I acknowledge it has been a LONG time since I've seen the film, but according to my memory he is grappling with the squid when the ship slips off its precarious perch and sinks into the abyss, which causes his air-hose to sever. I didn't get a clear sense that Wayne's character was definitely going to die before this happened. With his air supply cut off, and the Red Witch slipping into oblivion, there is no doubt about the outcome at this point, however.

Edit: Alas, my memory was incorrect here. It is in Reap the Wild wind that Wayne battles a giant squid while inside the bowels of the ship, which rests precariously over the edge of an abyss. In Wake of the Red Witch, he does battle a giant (in this case) octopus, but this occurrs much earlier in the film while he is diving for pearls. In WotRW, he is retrieving gold from the sunken Witch which, like the ship in RtWW, was pearched half over an abyss. The ship slips over, apparently due to rough water.

Cheerio!

"Nothing in this world is more surprising than the attack without mercy!"--Little Big Man

reply

I completely agree. This has always been one my favorites, although it does have some corny moments.

reply

[deleted]

This film rules.
All of John wayne's Republic films are awesome and hold more entertainment value than any of the films made today--including-
juno and all that other crap.

I hate all new movies.
all of them.


http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/index.jsp?cid=186977

The Truth is out there.

reply

Of course, I agree with your assessment of this film--in spite of its flaws.

Regarding new films, however, while acknowldeging the majority to be junk, there are many i love--including Juno and The Assassination of Jesse James... and The Fall to name 3. But to each his own.

Cheerio!

Fighting for Truth, Justice, and making it the American way.

reply

I was blown away by this movie. Great performances by John Wayne and Luther Adler. Michael Garrison, creator of the television series "The Wild Wild West" no doubt saw this movie and took note of the adversarial and love-hate relationship between Captain Ralls and Mayrant Sidneye. The relationship between James West (Robert Conrad) and Dr. Miguelito Loveless (Michael Dunn) in "The Wild Wild West" is very similar. This is a very underrated movie and I very much enjoyed watching it. I completely agree with kimpunkrock as I can't stand any of the new movies. All I watch are the older movies ... when men were truly men and women were truly women. Enough said.

reply

yeah he was really good, too bad the film is not



When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...

reply

I don't recall seeing any of John Wayne's 'sea' movies when I was a kid, and as I didn't like westerns back then, didn't care for him very much. Unsure why films like this and "The Seven Sinners" are not "trotted out" more. :)

Vesele Vianoce!!!! http://www.iarelative.com/czech/xmas/index.html

reply

[deleted]