Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect Stock Character Movie in Glorious Technicolor!, March 31, 2005
This movie is based on Thelma Strabel's story that first appeared in the Saturday Evening Post and DeMille had the story published in book form by Triangle publications in 1942, when the film came out! It concerns the state of the United States one hundred years prior. The subject is about ships foundering off the Florida Keys and salvage profits to local compaines who take 50% of the cargo value. Of course this leads to corrupt practices where ship captains are bribed to deliberately wreck their ships on the shoals in exchange for something on the side. The movie is as one previous reviewer has so admirably stated "Gone With The Wind" on the sea. It is a movie that shifts between barely civilized Florida and "Gentlemenly" Charleston, South Carolina. The movie is deliberately stocked with crazy characters that are memorable and funny. This is of course, the old south and slaves are everywhere and speak and act accordingly. There are also idiotic southern belles and rich eccentrics along with a few great performances. A standout is Raymond Massey as "King Cutler", the worst of the salvage pirates. There are also looney sea captains that remind you of Popeye the Sailor and the film is FULL of Sea Jargon and terminology that will make you laugh. The two main stars, Wayne and Milland are good and the climax scene in the encounter with a giant squid in their diving suits makes for the stuff of hollywood legend. DeMille's method of working with a hugh cast also does well in this movie. The only problem being the background scenery, which reminds you of cheap movies where a guy is driving in a car and you see "road film" in the background. Some of these scenes are cheesy and DeMille uses multiple backgrounds in some of the situations to make the scene seem bigger than it really is. If you like stock characters, this movie is full of them! From bald headed thugs with rings in their nose that don't speak but grunt to typical mammies and characters that today would be played by Robin Williams! The movie is VERY colorful and wonderfully preserved in Technicolor which is worth the price of admission. Consider this as entertainment and you will be pleased. The DVD also contains the original trailer with commentary by DeMille at the beginning of the trailer explaining what he tried to accomplish.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sheer good fun old fashioned entertainment., November 19, 1999
This film is lovely to look at. It is shot in typical DeMille fashion with the spectacle and action scenes given more importance than the stars of the film. How I wish Mr. DeMille had a few more close-up shots of the actors, especially Ray Milland. Ray as usual displays that magical charm and wonderful wit in a role that would otherwise make lesser actors fade into insignificance when up against the standard macho-hero character rival of John Wayne. This film is great escapism, and very fun to watch. The colour photography is quite beautiful. All in all a very satisfying film full of humour, romance, and action. My only real complaint is the fact that the marketing of the video bills John Wayne and Susan Hayward above Ray Milland and Paulette Goddard, when they were actually the main stars as evident in the opening credits of the film.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
De Mille Sea Epic with John Wayne!, August 15, 2006
People unfamiliar with John Wayne's vast filmography are often
surprised to discover he actually starred in a Cecil B. DeMille
extravaganza, although everybody seems to recall "The Film with the
Octopus" that Wayne made (it was actually a giant squid, but that's
really unimportant). In actuality, DeMille, who early-on saw Duke's
potential, twice attempted to team him with Gary Cooper in his
productions (he had been seriously considered for the role of Buffalo
Bill in "The Plainsman", and as the Mountie Preston Foster ended up
portraying in "North West Mounted Police"). Each time, scheduling
conflicts and studio pressure curtailed the pairings, and one can only
daydream about what might have been...
"Reap the Wild Wind", the one film Duke DID make with DeMille (one
of SEVEN 1942 productions he starred in), while not 'top-drawer', is still a
rousing Technicolor adventure, offering another of DeMille's 'American
history lessons'. A nautical tale set in the Florida Keys in 1840, of
salvage ships, their stalwart captains, and greedy profiteers (embodied
by Raymond Massey and Robert Preston), the film works best when
sticking to the 'physical' action, despite a sparkling performance by
Paulette Goddard as the head of one of two rival salvage companies.
Wayne is a hard-headed, impatient skipper who Goddard rescues and falls
for, but when lawyer Ray Milland arrives on the scene to investigate
Wayne's lost ship, the inevitable 'triangle' develops, with Duke
misreading things, and aligning with rival Massey. Milland, top-billed,
is given the meatiest role (and is excellent), but Wayne, who
eventually comes to his senses, is actually quite good, as well.
Expect little subtlety (this IS a DeMille film!), some 'over-the-top'
performances (Massey's hiss-able villain, Lynne Overman's crusty
sailor), a 'star-in-the-making' turn by young Susan Hayward (who, 14
years later, would again work with Wayne, in the infamous "The
Conqueror"), and the unforgettable (if not quite realistic) climactic
confrontation with the squid (which DeMille plays to the hilt, not
letting audiences know WHO sacrificed his life until the last moment).
"Reap the Wild Wind", while certainly a career 'boost' for the Duke, is
not generally listed among his best films (or DeMille's), but remains
an entertaining time-passer from early in WWII, the heady days of John
Wayne's meteoric rise to superstardom.
It certainly is worth a place in your 'John Wayne' collection of DVDS!
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