Without the effects, which only make up about 1/6 of screen time, this would mostly be an artifact of how strange it is to see white actors in brown face. But it is still far better than the disastrous 1979 remake partly directed by Roman Polanski while on trial for statutory rape.
Lead Jon Hall actually had Tahitian ancestry. But though they still use makeup and hair dye, they couldn't hide his blue eyes and brownish blond hair. I actually thought his acting better than many of the other reviewers.
Dorothy Lamour is far less believable. One review strangely claimed she's Italian. No, English and French. But she was put in a lot of "sarong" pictures, which were so ridiculous she finally made a comedy with Bob Hope mocking them. Why anyone thought her obvious European features, her blue eyes, her narrow penciled eyebrows, her heavy lipstick and wavy hair, and her constant switching back and forth between perfect Stage English and awkward Pidgin English wouldn't make everyone see her as obviously white is a mystery.
As a story it alternates between sympathetic and stereotypical, which was typical for John Ford's westerns later as well. It is noble in making it about a Polynesian imprisoned for defending himself against a drunken white bigot's attack. But that's undercut by whites constantly comparing Polynesians to birds that "can't handle being caged."
Yes, strong ending. I agree with the reviewer who shows it to film students. This is a good example of not only early FX, but racial impersonators. After groaning through much of the first 2/3 of the film, you'll be rewarded.
Lead Jon Hall actually had Tahitian ancestry. But though they still use makeup and hair dye, they couldn't hide his blue eyes and brownish blond hair. I actually thought his acting better than many of the other reviewers.
Dorothy Lamour is far less believable. One review strangely claimed she's Italian. No, English and French. But she was put in a lot of "sarong" pictures, which were so ridiculous she finally made a comedy with Bob Hope mocking them. Why anyone thought her obvious European features, her blue eyes, her narrow penciled eyebrows, her heavy lipstick and wavy hair, and her constant switching back and forth between perfect Stage English and awkward Pidgin English wouldn't make everyone see her as obviously white is a mystery.
As a story it alternates between sympathetic and stereotypical, which was typical for John Ford's westerns later as well. It is noble in making it about a Polynesian imprisoned for defending himself against a drunken white bigot's attack. But that's undercut by whites constantly comparing Polynesians to birds that "can't handle being caged."
Yes, strong ending. I agree with the reviewer who shows it to film students. This is a good example of not only early FX, but racial impersonators. After groaning through much of the first 2/3 of the film, you'll be rewarded.