''Hurricane Smith'' is a 1952 American

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...

directed by

Jerry Hopper Harold Hankins Hopper (July 29, 1907 – December 17, 1988), known professionally as Jerry Hopper, was an American film and television director, active from the mid-1940s through the early 1970s. Early life Jerry Hopper was born in Guthrie, ...

and starring

Yvonne de Carlo Margaret Yvonne Middleton (September 1, 1922January 8, 2007), known professionally as Yvonne De Carlo, was a Canadian-American actress, dancer and singer. She became a Hollywood film star in the 1940s and 1950s, made several recordings, and late ...

John Ireland John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in ''All the King's Men'' (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor to receive an Oscar nomin ...

, James Craig,

Forrest Tucker Forrest Meredith Tucker (February 12, 1919 – October 25, 1986) was an American actor in both movies and television who appeared in nearly a hundred films. Tucker worked as a vaudeville straight man at the age of fifteen. A mentor provided fund ...

Lyle Bettger Lyle Stathem Bettger (February 13, 1915 – September 24, 2003) was an American character actor who had roles in Hollywood films and television from the 1950s onward, often portraying villains. One such role was the wrathfully jealous elephant ...

and

Richard Arlen Richard Arlen (born Sylvanus Richard Mattimore, September 1, 1899 – March 28, 1976) was an American actor of film and television. Biography Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Arlen attended the University of Pennsylvania. He served in Canada as a ...

Plot

The film is set at an undetermined date but presumably is intended to be in the later 19th century. Costumes vary from 18th century to 1950s. The ship is typical of the early 18th century but with a typical late 19th century name. The frequent discussion of "

blackbirding Blackbirding involves the coercion of people through deception or kidnapping to work as slaves or poorly paid labourers in countries distant from their native land. The term has been most commonly applied to the large-scale taking of people in ...

" would place the timeframe in the second half of the 19th century. Captain Raikes of the ship "The Southern Cross" arrives on an island in the South Pacific Ocean to capture slaves. He rows ashore with his first mate Brown and other crew members, unaware the island is inhabited by three white adventurers who have been stranded there: Hurricane Smith, Dan O'Hara and Brundage. Smith, O'Hara and Brundage sneak on board "The Southern Cross", overwhelm the remaining crew, and takes over the boat. He sails it to Australia. On the way Smith explains he has buried half a million dollars in Dakaru before being unfairly arrested for piracy. He persuades O'Hara and Brundage to become his partners in retrieving it. In Australia, the three men rename their ship "The Lady Betty" try to raise money to track down the treasure. They are approached by Eric Gorvahlsen, a scientist who wants to hire a ship. Raikes and Brown arrive in Australia so Hurricane, Dan and Brundage take them prisoner on "The Lady Betty". Gorvahlsen goes on board the ship with his companions, Dr. Whitmore and Whitmore's half-Polynesian daughter Luana, who is also Gorvahlsen's lover. Gorvahlsen is actually planning to capture Hurricane's treasure on Dakaru. He has never seen Hurricane Smith and suspects that Dan O'Hara is he (the real Hurricane pretends to be "Jim Tyler"). Gorvahlsen tells Luana to find out information about Dan/O'Hara from Hurricane/Tyler. Luana and the real Hurricane fall in love with each other and she admits to having doubts about the scheme. Raikes and Brown have been released from the brig. They start a knife fight with Brundage and another sailor Clobb, which results in Raikes being sent back to the brig. Luana falls in the water and Hurricane rescues her from a shark. During this, Brundage accidentally calls Hurricane by his real name and Gorvahlsen notices. He orders Luana to drug Hurricane with gin but she warns him instead. Hurricane swims to the island of Dakaru to prepare the natives for the attack. Gorvahlsen orders Dan to anchor the ship off Dakaru. Brown then persuades Gorvahlsen to join forces with him and order Dan to release Raikes. Dan then leaves for the island to warn Hurricane. Hurricane sneaks back on board the boat by which time Brown has caused the crew to be unsettled. Hurricane is thrown in the brig and Clobb kills a sailor. Gorvahlsen takes over the ship, and Clobb encourages the rest of the crew to arm themselves. Gorvahlsen tells the crew about the gold and convinces them to help him claim it. In Dakaru, Hurricane is forced to lead Gorvahlsen, Brown and Raikes to where the gold has been buried. They dig up the treasure but then Dan leads the natives to attack. Dr. Whitmore spears Gorvahlsen to death and Brundage kills Clobb in a knife fight. Hurricane and Luana are united.

Cast

as Luana Whitmore *

as Hurricane Smith * Jame Craig as Govahlsen *

as Dan McGuire *

as Clobb *

as Brundage *

Mike Kellin Mike Kellin (born Myron Kellin, April 26, 1922 – August 26, 1983) was an American actor. Early life Kellin was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the son of Sophia and Samuel Kellin, Russian-Jewish immigrants. His younger sister, Shirley Ann ...

as Dicer *

Murray Matheson Sidney Murray Matheson (1 July 1912 – 25 April 1985) was a U.S.-based Australian actor. He appeared on stage and in films and television programs until 1983. Biography Matheson was born in Casterton, Australia in 1912 where he grew up on a 3 ...

as Dr. Whitmore * Henry Brandon as Sam *

Emile Meyer Emile Meyer (August 18, 1910 – March 19, 1987) was an American actor, usually known for tough, aggressive, authoritative characters in Hollywood films from the 1950s era, mostly in westerns or thrillers. Career Meyer had an uncredited s ...

as Capt. Raikes * Stuart Randall as Matt Ward *

Ralph Dumke Ralph Ernest Dumke (July 25, 1899 – January 4, 1964) was an American comedian and actor who had an active career from the early 1920s up until his death in 1964. He rose to fame as part of a comedy duo with Ed East, performing nationally in ...

as Ben Hawkins *

Kim Spalding Kim Spalding (born Ross F. Latimer; December 7, 1915 – November 18, 2000) was an American film, television and theatre actor. Life and career Spalding was born in Washington, Missouri, the son of Ross Latimer. He began his film career in ...

as Brown

Production

The film was based on a 1922 novel ''Hurricane Williams'' by Gordon Ray Young. The character had appeared in a number of stories by Young including ''Wild Blood'' (1921) and ''The Vengeance of Hurricane Williams'' (1926). In 1951 producer Nat Holt announced he had bought screen rights to the novel and had hired Frank Gruber, one of his regular screenwriters, to adapt it.

Edmond O'Brien Eamon Joseph O'Brien (September 10, 1915 – May 9, 1985) was an American actor and film director. His career spanned almost 40 years, and he won one Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. O'Brien w ...

had just starred in ''Silver City'' for Holt (also written by Gruber) and he was mentioned as a possible star. In August 1951 Holt announced

Paulette Goddard Paulette Goddard (born Marion Levy; June 3, 1910 – April 23, 1990) was an American actress notable for her film career in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Born in Manhattan and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, Goddard initially began her career a ...

would star with

Sterling Hayden Sterling Walter Hayden (born Sterling Relyea Walter; March 26, 1916 – May 23, 1986) was an American actor, author, sailor and decorated Marine Corps officer and an Office of Strategic Services' agent during World War II. A leading man for mos ...

as a possible co star. However Paramount had a backlog of films at the time and filming was pushed back to the following year. Eventually the leads were played by

, who had just made ''Silver City'' with Holt, and John Ireland. Forrest Tucker and Richard Arlen also played lead roles. James Craig was borrowed from MGM to play the villain. Australian actor Murray Matheson, who had been in ''Botany Bay'', had a small role. Filming began 11 February 1952. The film featured Kanaka Islanders as extras who had to be "blackened up" by the make up man because the filmmakers felt they were not dark enough.

Reception

"A great deal of muscular action occurs exactly as you'd expect it," wrote the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''.

References

External links

*
''Hurricane Smith''
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of Atl ...

Complete copy of novel ''Hurricane Williams''
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

{{Jerry Hopper 1952 films 1950s historical adventure films American historical adventure films Films directed by Jerry Hopper Films set in the 19th century Seafaring films Treasure hunt films Paramount Pictures films Films scored by Paul Sawtell 1950s English-language films 1950s American films