''Adventure's End'' is a 1937 American adventure film directed by

Arthur Lubin Arthur Lubin (July 25, 1898 – May 11, 1995) was an American film director and producer who directed several ''Abbott & Costello'' films, '' Phantom of the Opera'' (1943), the '' Francis the Talking Mule'' series and created the talking-horse TV ...

and starring John Wayne and Diana Gibson. It was distributed by Universal Pictures.Zmijewsky, Steve; Ricci, Mark (1970). "The Complete Films of John Wayne". Citadel Press. p. 81.. The film is considered lost, as no prints are known to exist.

Premise

Duke Slade, a Pacific islands pearl diver, signs up to sail on a whaling vessel. Before they sail, Captain Drew marries Slade to his daughter Janet, to protect him against his first mate, Rand Husk. When the crew mutinies at sea, Slade sides with the captain.

Cast

* John Wayne as Duke Slade * Diana Gibson as Janet Drew *

Montagu Love Montagu Love (15 March 1877 – 17 May 1943) was an English screen, stage and vaudeville actor. Early years Born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, Love was the son of Harry Love and Fanny Louisa Love, née Poad; his father was listed as accountant ...

as Capt. Abner Drew *

Moroni Olsen Moroni Olsen (June 27, 1889November 22, 1954) was an American actor. Life and career Olsen was born in Ogden, Utah to Latter-day Saint parents Edward Arenholt Olsen and Martha ( Hoverholst) Olsen, who named him after the Moroni found in the ...

as First Mate Rand Husk *

Maurice Black Maurice Black (January 14, 1891 – January 18, 1938) was an American character actor known for his portrayal of mobsters. He appeared in more than 100 films from 1928 to 1938, when he died of pneumonia, four days after his 47th birthday. ...

as Blackie * Paul White as Kalo * Cameron Hall as Slivers * Patrick J. Kelly as Matt *

George Cleveland George Alan Cleveland (September 17, 1885 – July 15, 1957) was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1930 and 1954. Career Cleveland was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. His first appearance on the stage ...

as Tom * William Sundholm as Chips * James T. Mack as Hooten * Britt Wood as Hardy, Old Sailor * Ben Carter as Stantul, Black Sailor * Wally Howe as Kierce * Jimmie Lucas as Flench, Black Cabin Boy * Glenn Strange as Barzeck

Production

''Adventure's End'' was the last of six films John Wayne made at Universal. Four of them were directed by

who later recalled they usually "had six days to shoot. There was no time schedule, as there is today, where if you go late at night or start early in the morning, you have to pay more. In those days, you could shoot twenty-four hours a day." Lubin says that ''Adventure's End'' was "very extravagant", because "we were going to shoot in ten days", and "it was going to be a big picture." He says Wayne films were often inspired by "What sets are up these days that we can make pictures on, that won’t cost us much money". ''Adventure's End ''was made because "there was a boat on Universal lot, and they could use that." In November 1936

Trem Carr Tremlet C. Carr (November 6, 1891– August 18, 1946) was an American film producer, closely associated with the low-budget filmmaking of Poverty Row. In 1931 he co-founded Monogram Pictures, which developed into one of the leading specialist pro ...

purchased ''Maid of Orleans'', a 150-foot schooner, one of the last of the whaling ships on the west coast, in Vancouver. He purchased specifically for the film. Filming was postponed due to a shipping strike (other films affected by this strike include ''The Hurricane'' for Sam Goldwyn and ''Short Haul'' also starring Wayne at Universal). By February the strike was over and the film was officially on Universal's production slate; Carr sent a crew to Vancouver to sail the boat to Los Angeles. Filming started early July 1937.

Reception

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 ...

'' called the film a "pale reflection of several recent Hollywood sea epics."

References

External links