''Donovan's Reef'' is a 1963 American

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

starring John Wayne and

Lee Marvin Lee Marvin (born Lamont Waltman Marvin Jr.; February 19, 1924August 29, 1987) was an American film and television actor. Known for his bass voice and premature white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled "tough guy" characters. Alt ...

. It was directed by

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

and filmed in Kauai,

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

, but is set in French Polynesia. The supporting cast features Elizabeth Allen,

Jack Warden Jack Warden (born John Warden Lebzelter Jr.; September 18, 1920July 19, 2006) was an American character actor of film and television. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for ''Shampoo'' (1975) and '' Heaven Can Wait' ...

Cesar Romero Cesar Julio Romero Jr. (February 15, 1907 – January 1, 1994) was an American actor and activist. He was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years. His wide range of screen roles included Latin lovers, historical figures in c ...

Dick Foran John Nicholas "Dick" Foran (June 18, 1910 – August 10, 1979) was an American actor, known for his performances in Western musicals and for playing supporting roles in dramatic pictures. Early years Foran was born in Flemington, New Jer ...

, and

Dorothy Lamour Dorothy Lamour (born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton; December 10, 1914 – September 22, 1996) was an American actress and singer. She is best remembered for having appeared in the '' Road to...'' movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing ...

. The film marked the last time Ford and Wayne collaborated.

Plot

Thomas "Boats" Gilhooley, an

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

(USN) veteran, works aboard a freighter. When he realizes that the ship is passing by Haleakaloha, French Polynesia, but not actually calling there as he had been promised, he jumps ship to swim to the island. Next, Michael "Guns" Donovan, another expatriate USN veteran and a former shipmate of Gilhooley's, returns from a fishing trip aboard an outrigger canoe. Donovan is greeted by William "Doc" Dedham, also a USN veteran and the only medical doctor 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 December 7 birthday are shattered by Gilhooley's arrival. He shares Donovan's birthday, and they have an unbroken 21-year tradition of a knock-down, drag-out fight every birthday, to the delight of the local observers. Their 22nd year does not break the tradition. The two vets meet in (and trash) "Donovan's Reef", the saloon Donovan owns. The saloon has a broken slot machine, but locals constantly play it, hoping to hit the jackpot. Miss Amelia Dedham a "proper" young lady "of means" from

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, becomes the chairman of the board of the Dedham Shipping Company. Her father is Doc Dedham, whom she has never met, but who has inherited a large block of stock in the family company, making him the majority stockholder. Amelia travels to Haleakaloha to find proof that Doc has violated an outdated (but still in effect)

morality clause A morality clause (also known as a morals clause, bad boy clause or bad girl clause) is a provision within instruments of a contract which curtail, or restrain, or proscribe certain behavior of individuals or party(s) to the contract. A moral clau ...

in the will, which would prevent him inheriting the stock and enabling her to retain control. When word reaches Haleakaloha that Miss Dedham will soon arrive, Donovan, Gilhooley, and the Marquis de Lage concoct a scheme. De Lage, Haleakaloha's French governor, also hopes to find another diplomatic post — preferably Miami Beach or Hollywood. Donovan will pretend to be the father of Doc's three children (Leilani, Sarah, and Luke), until Doc returns and can explain the situation to his prim and proper Boston daughter. The plan is reluctantly accepted by eldest daughter, Leilani, who believes the deception because her siblings and she are half-castes (''

Hapa Hapa is a Hawaiian word for someone of multiracial ancestry. In Hawaii, the word refers to any person of mixed ethnic heritage, regardless of the specific mixture.: "Thus, for locals in Hawai’i, both hapa or hapa haole are used to depict p ...

''). Amelia learns her father, Donovan, and Gilhooley were marooned on the Japanese-occupied island after their destroyer was sunk in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. With the help of the locals, the survivors of the ship conducted a guerrilla war against the Japanese with only Dedham, Donovan, and Gilhooley surviving the war. She also learns her father built a hospital, and lives in a large house (she expected a shack). Amelia is intrigued by a portrait of a beautiful Polynesian woman in royal trappings. The woman is Doc's late wife, the mother of his children, though Amelia is not told this. She learns that the woman was named Manulani. Donovan mentions she 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 owns a substantial local shipping operation. Amelia, too, is not as expected. When Donovan takes her boating, she strips off her outdated "swimming costume" to reveal a tight swimsuit, and challenges Donovan to a swimming race before diving into the water. They form a truce, as de Lage tries to court Amelia (or rather, her $18,000,000). Everyone attends a Christmas Mass in the church with a leaking roof, for which the congregation has no money for repairs. The priest uses any donated money to help the poor. In the middle of the service, a thunderstorm starts, so most of the audience – knowing of the roof's condition – open umbrellas. When Dr. Dedham returns, father and daughter meet for the time. He is told about the deception, and, over dinner, 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 unneeded in Boston, but was desperately needed in the islands, so he stayed. He signs 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, a hospital emergency interrupts. Manulani was the granddaughter of the last hereditary prince of the islands, and Amelia finally solves the mystery: Leilani — Manulani's daughter — is not only the island's princess, but Amelia's half-sister, a relationship joyfully acknowledged by both. Following a brawl in the bar with some Australian sailors, their commander finds a coin on the floor and hands it to the priest, thinking it is his. The priest responds that it belongs in the "jukebox" – the slot machine. He puts the coin in and hits the jackpot, with coins gushing out. He can now afford to fix the roof. Amelia and Donovan evolve their truce into marriage plans, despite her blaming him (correctly) for deceiving about her half-siblings' true paternity. They discuss naming their first son – he insists he be named after his father, while she wants the child to be named after her great uncle: Sedley. Donovan is incensed at the thought of a boy named that, so she offers a compromise: William, after her father. Donovan is pleased. As he puts it, he will call him Bill. She moves to embrace him, but he stops her, stating that she has a "mean Irish temper", but he loves her. Pulling her to a nearby fountain, he says that from now on, he makes all the "pax", puts her across his lap, and spanks her. When done, she rolls over in his lap, and they kiss. Gilhooley also finally marries his longtime girlfriend, Miss Lafleur. Donovan gives the bar to his old shipmate as a wedding present. In the final scene, Leilani and Amelia walk hand-in-hand down the driveway to Doc Dedham's house, trailed by Leilani's two younger siblings, Donovan and Gilhooley carrying Amelia's luggage, and the local '' gendarmerie'' toting Leilani's piano as the newly extended family returns home.

Cast

* John Wayne as Michael Patrick "Guns" Donovan *

as Thomas Aloysius 'Boats' Gilhooley * Elizabeth Allen as Amelia Dedham *

as Dr. William Dedham *

as Marquis Andre de Lage *

as Australian Navy Chief Petty Officer Sean O'Brien *

as Miss Lafleur * Marcel Dalio as Father Cluzeot *

Mike Mazurki Mike Mazurki (December 25, 1907 – December 9, 1990) was a Ukrainian-American actor and professional wrestler who appeared in more than 142 films. His 6 ft 5 in (196 cm) presence and face had him typecast as often brainless athletes ...

as Sgt. Monk Menkowicz * Jacqueline Malouf as Lelani Dedham * Cherylene Lee as Sarah 'Sally' Dedham *

Jeffrey Byron Jeffrey Byron (born Timothy Paul Stafford; November 28, 1955) is an American actor and writer. Byron has acted in both film and television, and co-wrote one movie script (''The Dungeonmaster''). Byron was born in Santa Monica, California, the ...

as Luke Dedham (as Tim Stafford) *

Edgar Buchanan William Edgar Buchanan II (March 20, 1903 – April 4, 1979) was an American actor with a long career in both film and television. He is most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson from the ''Petticoat Junction'', ''Green Acres'', and ''The ...

as Boston Attorney Francis X. O'Brian * Jon Fong as Mister Eu

Production

The film was based on original material for Paramount prepared by

James Michener James Albert Michener ( or ; February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations in particular geographic locales and ...

(although Michener is not credited in the final film). In February 1962 Paramount announced that John Wayne and John Ford would make the film, then called ''South Sea Story'', from a script by James Edward Grant.

Martin Rackin Martin Rackin (31 July 1918 – 15 April 1976) was an American writer and producer who was briefly head of production at Paramount Pictures from 1960–64. In the late 1950s he wrote and produced a series of films with actor Alan Ladd. Ri ...

helped put together the deal at Paramount. Ford called it "a spoof picture – a whammy, crazy sort of thing. We're not going for any prizes." 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 arrives from Boston by sailing ship. In fact, in the southern Polynesian dialect spoken in French Polynesia, the words are spelled with a T, where Hawaiian uses a K. Filming started in July 1962 on Kauai,

, but Ford's health had deteriorated to the point that Wayne wound up directing most of the film himself. 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 The National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) is a Hawaii-based not-for-profit institution dedicated to tropical plant research, conservation, and education. It operates a network of botanical gardens and preserves in Hawaii and Florida. History I ...

(without the scenes of boats and canoes on the Wailua River, which were edited and merged with scenes filmed at the Allerton Estate). The unit then returned to Hollywood to finish scenes at Paramount studios. The song Pearly Shells was used as the movie's opening theme and again in later scenes.

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 ''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 ...

'' wrote that the movie was "sheer contrivance effected in hearty, fun-loving, truly infectious style". ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called it an "effort-less effort", but praised the photography. Currently, the film holds a "Rotten" 55% rating on the

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website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

.Film reviews for ''Donovan's Reef''.

. Retrieved September 5, 2013.

References

External links

* * * * * {{John Ford 1963 films 1963 comedy films 1960s adventure comedy films American adventure comedy films Films about veterans Films directed by John Ford Films scored by Cyril J. Mockridge Films set in French Polynesia Films set on fictional islands Films shot in Hawaii Paramount Pictures films 1960s English-language films 1960s American films