1963 Donovan's Reef VOST Eng Streaming
Donovan's Reef is a 1963 American film starring
John Wayne. It was directed by
John Ford and filmed on location on
Kauai,
Hawaii.
The cast included
Elizabeth Allen,
Lee Marvin,
Jack Warden,
Dorothy Lamour, and
Cesar Romero. The film marked the last time Ford and Wayne ever worked together on a project.
Synopsis
The film is a
morality play
in the guise of an action/comedy. It deals harshly (though not in an
obvious way) with issues of racial bigotry, corporate connivance and
greed, American beliefs of societal "superiority" and hypocrisy (i.e.,
the Boston shipping company considers carrying rum to be immoral, so
they euphemistically refer to it as "West Indies goods"). Otherwise,
Donovan's Reef is a light-hearted movie made in a period conforming, formulaic and sweetly naive manner (see "Critical Reception", below).
Plot
The film begins with Thomas "Boats" Gilhooley (Marvin), an
expatriate United States Navy veteran, working aboard a freighter. When he realizes that the ship is passing by Haleakaloha,
French Polynesia, and not actually stopping there, he jumps ship to swim to the island.
Next, Michael "Guns" Donovan (Wayne), another expatriate U.S. Navy
veteran and a former shipmate of Gilhooley, returns from a fishing trip
aboard an outrigger canoe. Donovan is greeted by William "Doc" Dedham
(Warden), also a U.S. Navy veteran and the only physician in the
archipelago, who is about to begin a one or two week pre-Christmas
circuit of the "outer islands," taking care of the health needs of the
residents. Dedham's three children are placed in Donovan's care.
The kids' plans for a peaceful celebration of Donovan's birthday on
December 7 are shattered by the arrival of Gilhooley, who shares the
same birthday. There is an unbroken 21-year tradition that Donovan and
Gilhooley have a knock-down, drag-out fight every birthday—-to the
delight of the local observers-—and their 22nd year does not break the
tradition. The two vets meet in (and trash) "Donovan's Reef," the saloon
owned by Donovan.
Miss Amelia Dedham (Allen) is a "proper" young lady "of means" from
Boston,
who has become the chairman of the board of the Dedham Shipping
Company. Her father is Doc Dedham, whom she has never met, but who now
has inherited a large block of stock in the family company, making him
the majority stockholder. She travels to Haleakaloha in hope of finding
proof that Doc has violated an outdated (but still in effect) morality
clause in the will which would keep him from inheriting the stock and
thus enable her to retain control.
When word reaches Haleakaloha that Miss Dedham is on the way, a
scheme is concocted by Donovan, Gilhooley, and the Marquis de Lage
(Romero). De Lage is Haleakaloha's French governor, who hopes to find a
post somewhere else. Donovan is to pretend to be the father of Doc's
three
hapa
children (Leilani, Sarah and Luke), until Doc comes back and can
explain things to the prim, proper Boston lady. The plan is reluctantly
accepted by the oldest daughter, Leilani, who believes the deception is
because she and her siblings are not white, a reflection of the bigotry
of the period.
The plan works, and Amelia is told that her father, Donovan and
Gilhooley were marooned on the Japanese-occupied island after their
destroyer was sunk in
World War II.
With the help of the locals, the three men conducted a guerrilla war
against the Japanese. She also learns that her father built a hospital,
and lives in a large house (she had obviously expected to find a shack).
A mystery develops as she enters the house and sees a portrait of a
beautiful Polynesian woman in royal trappings. This was Doc's wife, the
mother of his children. Amelia is not told of the relationship, but she
learns that the woman was named Manulani. Donovan mentions that Luke's
mother had died in childbirth.
As the story develops, Amelia learns that life in the islands is not
as she expected, and neither is Donovan, who proves to be educated and
intelligent, and the owner of a substantial local shipping operation.
Amelia, too, is not as expected, as when she strips off her outdated
"swimming costume" to reveal a tight swimsuit, challenges Donovan to a
swimming race, and dives into the water. They develop a truce, as de
Lage tries to court Amelia (or rather, her $18,000,000).
When Dr. Dedham returns, father and daughter meet for the first time
(Amelia: "Doctor Dedham, I presume?"). He has been told about the
deception, and over dinner he explains that he was serving in World War
II when his wife (Amelia's mother) died. When the war ended, he felt
that he was not needed in Boston, but was desperately needed in the
islands, so he stayed. He has even signed over his stock to Amelia, as
he intends to remain in the islands. Just as he is about to explain
about Manulani and their children (described by Amelia as "
half-caste"), a hospital emergency interrupts.
It turns out that Manulani was the granddaughter of the last
hereditary prince of the islands, and Amelia finally puts all of the
pieces together to solve the mystery. Leilani-—Manulani's daughter-—is
not only the island's princess, but Amelia's sister, a relationship
which is tearfully but joyfully acknowledged by both girls.
Amelia and Donovan evolve their truce into marriage plans. Gilhooley
also finally marries his longtime girlfriend, Miss Lafleur (Dorothy
Lamour). Donovan points out the new sign on the saloon, which is now
"Gilhooley's Reef". Donovan has given the bar to his old shipmate as a
wedding present.
Crisis resolved, life in the islands can return to normal.
Cast
Production
While
Donovan's Reef
is set on the fictional island of Haleakaloha, which has a French
governor, the only Polynesian language exhibited in the film is Hawaiian
-- "Haleakaloha" can be translated as "Home of Laughter and Love" (hale
= home, aka = laugh, aloha = love) -- and Amelia has come from Boston,
MA by sailing ship. The movie was actually filmed on
Kauai,
Hawaii. The home of the French island governor, the white beach house with coconut palms and surrounding grass lawn, is the
Allerton Estate home and former summer residence of
Hawaiian Queen Emma near
Poipu Beach, now a part of the
National Tropical Botanical Garden (without the scenes of boats and canoes on the
Wailua River, which were edited and merged with scenes filmed at the
Allerton Estate).
There is one major historical error: French Polynesia was 4,000 km
(about 2200 nautical miles) east of the farthest Japanese expansion, and
there was no fighting there.
In a bit of tongue-in-cheek, portraits of the founder and leaders of
the Dedham Shipping Company are all of Warden (in appropriate period
dress). The portrait of Manulani appears to be a similar treatment of
Allen, as she would appear if she were Polynesian or
hapa.
A mistaken use of a blasphemy slipped past the censors. At the end of
the first fight between John Wayne and Lee Marvin, after Jack Warden
has broken it up, Wayne and Marvin start to get out of the pond, but
Marvin slipped and fell back into the water. As he did so, he exclaimed,
"Jesus!" Because it was funny, the error was left in the film, and
because the sound of the water partially obscured the exclamation, the
dialogue was also left unaltered.
Release
Box office performance
Donovan's Reef was a moderate financial success. Produced on a budget of $2,686,000, the film grossed $6,600,000 in North America, earning $3.3 million in US
theatrical rentals. It was the
24th highest grossing film of 1963.
Critical reception
A.H. Weiler of
The New York Times wrote that the movie was "sheer contrivance effected in hearty, fun-loving, truly infectious style".
Variety called it an "effort-less effort", but praised the photography.Currently, the film holds a rating of 60% "Fresh" on the
review aggregate website
Rotten Tomatoes.
États-Unis
France 2 octobre 1963
