Present Joys

I just watched The Hurricane from 1937. I put this movie in the Netflix queue solely because it had Mary Astor in it. It looked pretty cheesy—and, certainly, the first 40 minutes or so were pretty slow and romance-focused, but once the plot got going, it became quite a great movie.

This movie’s lead characters are white people trying to be Pacific islanders, but even this isn’t as grating as you’d expect. I consider this a triumph made possible by great storytelling. The sometimes-cheesy lead characters are balanced by an all-star supporting cast, including Mary Astor, C. Aubrey Smith, Thomas Mitchell, Raymond Massey, and John Carradine (who had great facial hair in this movie).

The first hour of the film is spent telling a story about people who live on this island. The viewer is made to care about the goings-on in their lives. Then, suddenly, the hurricane appears and the story takes a dramatic turn. (I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by saying that.) The hurricane sequence itself, near the end of the film, is absolutely stunning. Really convincing, quality filmmaking, and emotional, too.

Highly, highly recommended.