1942
·119m
Reap the Wild Wind
Summary
The Florida Keys in 1840, where the implacable hurricanes of the Caribbean scream, where the salvagers of Key West, like the intrepid and beautiful Loxi Claiborne and her crew, reap, aboard frail schooners, the harvest of the wild wind, facing the shark teeth of the reefs to rescue the sailors and the cargo from the shipwrecks caused by the scavengers of the sea.
Director
Cecil B. DeMille
Screenplay
Charles Bennett
Screenplay
Jesse Lasky Jr.
Screenplay
Alan Le May
Story
Thelma Strabel
Reviews
John Chard
May 16, 2020
Ripping Yarns!
Reap the Wild Wind is directed by Cecil B. DeMille and is adapted collectively to screenplay by Alan Le May, Charles Bennett and Jesse Lasky Jr. from a Saturday Evening Post story written by Thelma Strabel. It stars John Wayne, Ray Milland, Paulette Goddard, Raymond Massey, Robert Preston, Susan Hayward and Lynne Overman. Music is by Victor Young and cinematography is shared between Victor Milner and William V. Skall.
The Florida Keys in the 1840s, hurricanes are rife and the salvagers of Key West rush to the frail schooners to claim salvage rights...
Whilst not up with the best of DeMille's epics, this is however a joyous romp of a high seas adventure. A top notch cast line up for some period flavours that is unfurled in glorious over saturated Technicolor. We have a rocky love triangle, dastardly villains with dishonesty poring from every bead of sweat, sword play, fisticuffs, fogs and a giant squid! and it even has time to be a court room drama as well. In short it is a ripping sea faring yarn.
The budget was considerable and DeMille ensures it was lavishly spent, and thus the pic was a box office winner and an Academy Award Winner for special effects. It's a touch too long, and gets a little bogged down in the mid-section, but entering the home straight it pulls itself back up and ends briskly, with Duke Wayne splendidly rounding off an interesting characterisation. 7/10
Media
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00
