Charming and
raucous action-
comedy, released in
1963. It was directed by
John Ford and written by
Edmund Beloin,
James Edward Grant,
James Michener, and
Frank S. Nugent. The stars included
John Wayne as Michael Patrick "Guns" Donovan,
Lee Marvin as Thomas Aloysius "Boats" Gilhooley,
Elizabeth Allen as Ameilia Dedham,
Jack Warden as Dr. William Dedham,
Cesar Romero as Marquis Andre de Lage,
Dorothy Lamour as Miss Lafleur,
Marcel Dalio as Father Cluzeot,
Mike Mazurki as Sergeant Monk Menkowicz,
Jacqueline Malouf as Lelani Dedham,
Cheryline Lee as Sally Dedham, and
Tim Stafford as Luki Dedham.
The
film, Wayne and Ford's last
feature film together, is set on a
beautiful island in the
South Pacific, which has become home, in the years after
WWII, to a hefty population of
expatriates from around the world. Wayne is the owner of the local
tavern, Marvin is his
ne'er-do-well brother, Warden is the island's saintly
doctor, and Allen plays the doctor's
snooty daughter trying to drag him back to
Boston. From there, it's a freewheeling
caper as everyone tries to keep Allen from discovering that Warden married the island's
princess years ago and fathered a trio of
adorable youngsters. In addition, this
movie features beautiful
scenery, a number of
hilarious barroom brawls (usually started by Wayne and Marvin and quickly attracting almost everyone in town), and one of the best
Christmas Eve church services ever filmed.
This is a fun,
fun movie. It's a blast to watch, and it's pretty clear that everyone in the cast was having a good time, too. It's highly
recommended. Why haven't you rented it already?