This classic ¨Bird of paradise¨ (1932) by King Vidor boasts a good cast with Dolores del Rio , Joel McCrea , John Halliday , Lon Chaney Jr . Exotic love story based on Richard Walton Tully's play and set in Polynesia amid likeable natives , bad-tempered shaman and angry volcano gods . A young adventurer named Johnny (Joel McCrea) arrives aboard a ship in a far Polynesian island . There , seafaring Johnny assumes the native life as a visitor guest to the remote island , and the young attempts to woo a princess native (Dolores Del Rio) , and finally falls for the Polynesian girl , but their idyll is smashed when happens strange happenings , and the local volcano begins to erupt , as well as a terrible discovery of a local custom . All you will ever know of love, beauty and rare Adventure ! "east is east and west is west" . Lava Stains the Night with Red ! .A drama of forbidden love beyond the pale of white men's morals . Smash! Go all records ! Thousands rush to see .. The greatest romance ever writte is here , at last, the triumph of the screen .What a story ¡ Two impassionated souls overtaken by the inexorable tribal law in a terrific climatic catastrophe ¡ . Milions who saw it on the stage will be thrilled again ¡ It's on the screen in a blaze o glory ¡
A world-sweeping play, the greatest in the annals of the 30s' theatre is well brought to big screen . A romance story with emotion , thrills , sensitive scenes , sacrifices to volcanic gods at the far island , and traditional habits including tribal dances that were well choreographed by expert Bubsy Berkeley. There is a new version from the vintage film , ¨Bird of Paradise¨ (1951) by Delmer Daves with Louis Jourdan , Jeff Chandler , Debra Paget , displaying a similar plot and characters with some brief variations . This classic "Bird of Paradise (1932) set in exotic South Seas where occurs a love story in which an adventurer arrives in a remote Pacific island falling for a beautiful native , but there happens an ancient and horrible custom : a girl is chosen by a holy man to be sacrificed to the volcano island , as the Kahuna, a feared shaman , decides that the volcano can only be appeased with a local female . This kind of thing was fairly popular and typical in the Thirties and Forties , but it looks dumb and dated nowadays . Interpretations are acceptable, but neither extraordinary , nor notable , but passable , as Joel McCrea is fine as the visitor who becomes enamored of an exotic island girl and nature seems to disapprove. While Dolores del Rio shines thanks to her beauty and dancing . Along with brief but agreeable acting from secondaries as John Halliday , Richard Gallagher , R. Simpson Bert Roach and Lon Chaney Jr.
It displays a shimmering and brilliant cinematography in black and white by cameramen Lucien Andriot , Edward Cronjager , Clyde DeVinna , though a perfect remastering being really necessary . Shot on location in Hawaii, Santa Catalina Island, Channel Islands, California and Warner Brothers Burbank Studios , Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California , RKO-Pathé Studio . Including a spectacular production design, in fact the native village was re-used for RKO's King Kong. Furthermore , an evocative and thrilling musical score by maestro composer Max Steiner . The motion picture lavishly produced by David O. Selznick was well directed by King Vidor .
A world-sweeping play, the greatest in the annals of the 30s' theatre is well brought to big screen . A romance story with emotion , thrills , sensitive scenes , sacrifices to volcanic gods at the far island , and traditional habits including tribal dances that were well choreographed by expert Bubsy Berkeley. There is a new version from the vintage film , ¨Bird of Paradise¨ (1951) by Delmer Daves with Louis Jourdan , Jeff Chandler , Debra Paget , displaying a similar plot and characters with some brief variations . This classic "Bird of Paradise (1932) set in exotic South Seas where occurs a love story in which an adventurer arrives in a remote Pacific island falling for a beautiful native , but there happens an ancient and horrible custom : a girl is chosen by a holy man to be sacrificed to the volcano island , as the Kahuna, a feared shaman , decides that the volcano can only be appeased with a local female . This kind of thing was fairly popular and typical in the Thirties and Forties , but it looks dumb and dated nowadays . Interpretations are acceptable, but neither extraordinary , nor notable , but passable , as Joel McCrea is fine as the visitor who becomes enamored of an exotic island girl and nature seems to disapprove. While Dolores del Rio shines thanks to her beauty and dancing . Along with brief but agreeable acting from secondaries as John Halliday , Richard Gallagher , R. Simpson Bert Roach and Lon Chaney Jr.
It displays a shimmering and brilliant cinematography in black and white by cameramen Lucien Andriot , Edward Cronjager , Clyde DeVinna , though a perfect remastering being really necessary . Shot on location in Hawaii, Santa Catalina Island, Channel Islands, California and Warner Brothers Burbank Studios , Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California , RKO-Pathé Studio . Including a spectacular production design, in fact the native village was re-used for RKO's King Kong. Furthermore , an evocative and thrilling musical score by maestro composer Max Steiner . The motion picture lavishly produced by David O. Selznick was well directed by King Vidor .