''Omoo-Omoo the Shark God'' is a 1949 American

exploitation film An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...

directed by Leon Leonard. Loosely based on the

Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American people, American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his bes ...

novel '' Omoo'', it is about the curses that befall a ship following the removal of pearls from an island

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...

. The film is also known as ''The Shark God'' in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Plot

A sea captain has violated the

tabu Tabu may refer to: Cultural and legal concepts *Taboo (spelled ''tabu'' in earlier historical records), something that is unacceptable in society *Tapu (Polynesian culture) (also spelled ''tabu''), a Polynesian cultural concept from which the wor ...

of a South Sea Island by removing some pearls that are the eyes of an idol of the Shark God. The captain is killed by two crew members who want the pearls.

Cast

Ron Randell Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe A ...

as Jeff Garland * Devera Burton as Julie Guy *

Trevor Bardette Trevor Bardette (born Terva Gaston Hubbard; November 19, 1902 – November 28, 1977) was an American film and television actor. Among many other roles in his long and prolific career, Bardette appeared in several episodes of '' Adventures of S ...

as Capt. Roger Guy * Pedro de Cordoba as Chief Tari *

Richard Benedict Richard "Pepe" Benedict (born Riccardo Benedetto, January 8, 1920 – April 25, 1984) was an Italian-American television and film actor and director. He was born in Palermo, Italy. He appeared in dozens of television programs and movies from t ...

as Mate Richards * Michael Whalen as "Chips" *

Rudy Robles Rudy Robles (born Pastor Lluviosa Robles, 29 April 1910 – 11 August 1970) was a Filipino film and television actor. He was one of the first Filipino actors to appear in Hollywood movies. Career Robles was born in Tacloban, in the Eastern ...

as Tembo *

George Meeker George Meeker (March 5, 1904 – August 19, 1984) was an American character film and Broadway actor. A graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Meeker made several films such as ''Crime, Inc.'' (1945) and ''A Thief in the Dark'' (1 ...

as Dr. Godfrey Long * Lisa Kincaid as Tala

Reception

''Variety'' called it "an unpretentious jungle picture" in which the action sequences "seldom achieve an aura of realism" and "performances are generally listless with Randell turning in the most credible job."Review of film
at Variety

References

External links

* * * ''

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 ...

'
review''Omoo Omoo the Shark God''
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 ...

''Omoo Omoo the Shark God''
at BFI 1949 films 1949 drama films American drama films American independent films American black-and-white films 1940s exploitation films Films based on American novels Films based on works by Herman Melville Films scored by Albert Glasser Films set in Oceania 1940s independent films Films set on islands 1940s English-language films 1940s American films {{exploitation-film-stub