''Victory'' is a 1940 American adventure film directed by John Cromwell and starring

Fredric March Fredric March (born Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel; August 31, 1897 – April 14, 1975) was an American actor, regarded as one of Hollywood's most celebrated, versatile stars of the 1930s and 1940s.Obituary '' Variety'', April 16, 1975, ...

Cedric Hardwicke Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke (19 February 1893 – 6 August 1964) was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly 50 years. His theatre work included notable performances in productions of the plays of Shakespeare and Shaw, and ...

and Betty Field. It was based on the popular 1915 novel by Joseph Conrad. On the eve of the American entry into World War II, Conrad's story of a hermit on an island invaded by thugs was refashioned into a call for intervention in the war in Europe at the height of American isolationism.

Plot

Hendrik Heyst is an intellectual British recluse who has vowed to close himself off from the world and now lives alone on an island in the Dutch East Indies. However, he is forced to break this promise to himself when traveling showgirl Alma, also fleeing from the world, is threatened by three murderous scavengers. The villains are led by Mr. Jones, who has a

Cockney Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or ...

sidekick named Martin Ricardo whom Jones treats with sexual sadism. The villains switch their attention from Heyst to Alma when they find that Heyst has untold wealth to plunder.

Cast

as Hendrik Heyst * Betty Field as Alma *

Sir Cedric Hardwicke Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke (19 February 1893 – 6 August 1964) was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly 50 years. His theatre work included notable performances in productions of the plays of Shakespeare and Shaw, and ...

as Mr. Jones *

Jerome Cowan Jerome Palmer Cowan (October 6, 1897 – January 24, 1972) was an American stage, film, and television actor. Early years Cowan was born in New York City, the son of William Cowan, a confectioner of Scottish descent, and Julia Cowan, née Palm ...

as Martin Ricardo *

Sig Rumann Siegfried Carl Alban Rumann (October 11, 1884 – February 14, 1967), billed as Sig Ruman and Sig Rumann, was a German-American character actor known for his portrayals of pompous and often stereotypically Teutonic officials or villains in ...

as Mr. Schomberg *

Margaret Wycherly Margaret De Wolfe Wycherly (born Margaret De Wolfe, 26 October 1881 – 6 June 1956) was an English stage and film actress. She spent many years in the United States and is best remembered for her Broadway roles and Hollywood character parts. On ...

as Mrs. Schomberg *

Fritz Feld Fritz Feld (October 15, 1900 – November 18, 1993) was a German-American film character actor who appeared in over 140 films in 72 years, both silent and sound. His trademark was to slap his mouth with the palm of his hand to create a "pop" s ...

as Señor Makanoff *

Lionel Royce Lionel Royce (born Leon Moriz Reiss; March 30, 1891 – April 1, 1946) was an Austrian-American actor of stage and screen, also known during his European career as Leo Reuss. He began his career in theater in Vienna, Austria, in 1919, before ...

as Pedro * Alan Ladd as Heyst Jnr

Production

Paramount owned the film rights to Joseph Conrad's novel and filmed the story in 1919 as ''

Victory The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes ...

'' and again in 1930 as '' Dangerous Paradise''. In July 1939, it was reported that

Marc Connelly Marcus Cook Connelly (December 13, 1890 – December 21, 1980) was an American playwright, director, producer, performer, and lyricist. He was a key member of the Algonquin Round Table, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1930. Biogra ...

was writing a script for a film to be produced by

William Le Baron William LeBaron (February 16, 1883February 9, 1958) was an American film producer. LeBaron's film credits included '' Cimarron'', which won the Academy Award for Outstanding Production at the 4th Academy Awards ceremony for 1930/1931. LeBaron ...

and possibly starring

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...

. Paramount's wished to build Howard, who had been starring in the studio's

Bulldog Drummond Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond is a fictional character, created by H. C. McNeile and published under his pen name "Sapper". Following McNeile's death in 1937, the novels were continued by Gerard Fairlie. Drummond is a First World War veteran who, ...

films, into a star. By November, John L. Balderstone was working on the script. Anthony Veillier was named producer and John Cromwell was hired as the director. In February 1940, Paramount announced

Ida Lupino Ida Lupino (4 February 1918Recorded in ''Births Mar 1918'' Camberwell Vol. 1d, p. 1019 (Free BMD). Transcribed as "Lupine" in the official births index – 3 August 1995) was an English-American actress, singer, director, writer, and producer. T ...

as the female lead, with

Charles Boyer Charles Boyer (; 28 August 1899 – 26 August 1978) was a French-American actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found his success in American fi ...

wanted for the male lead. However, neither actor appeared in the film, and in March 1940,

agreed to star. The female lead was given to Betty Field, who had been starring in

Elmer Rice Elmer Rice (born Elmer Leopold Reizenstein, September 28, 1892 – May 8, 1967) was an American playwright. He is best known for his plays ''The Adding Machine'' (1923) and his Pulitzer Prize-winning drama of New York tenement life, '' Street Sce ...

's ''Two on an Island'' on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

. Filming began in May 1940 and was finished by early July. Shortly after filming was completed, Paramount was reportedly considering a biopic of Conrad to be played by March, but no film resulted.

Reception

In its review of ''Victory'', ''

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), ...

'' wrote: "This film version of Joseph Conrad's novel impresses with several strongly individual performances rather than with the basic movement of the story itself." In a contemporary review for ''

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 ...

'', critic

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

wrote: " 'Victory''lacks most of the opaque and brooding philosophy of the original, shears away at least half of the novel's meandering contents, avoids the tragic ending which Conrad so grimly contrived and boils down in essence to a slow and sultry melodrama of love and villainy in the South Seas. You have seen its kind a dozen times before. The only things that distinguish it are a star cast and smooth direction. ... There is a lot of cold suspense packed into the one big episode of 'Victory,' but it is of the bubble variety. When it is broken there's nothing left." '' Harrison's Reports'' called the film " strong but somewhat sordid drama, suitable only for adults. The direction is skillful, the acting realistic, and the production values good; but the story is somewhat brutal." '' Film Daily'' described ''Victory'' as "at all times gripping and exciting" and called Fredric March "highly effective."

John Mosher John Mosher (1928–1998) was an American jazz bassist, classical bassist and composer who worked, recorded and toured with a wide range of primarily West Coast artists from the 1950s through the mid-1990s. Early years A native of Sioux City, I ...

of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' called the film "definitely expert, with a proper allotment of excitement and atmosphere," although he found the later scenes "too bald" in their simplification of the novel. Despite the generally positive reviews, ''Victory'' fared poorly at the box office.

References

External links

''Victory''
at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

''Victory''
at New York Times
''Victory''
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 A ...

Review of film
at ''Variety'' {{Victory 1940 films 1940 adventure films Films based on works by Joseph Conrad Films directed by John Cromwell Films scored by Friedrich Hollaender Films set in Indonesia American adventure films American black-and-white films Paramount Pictures films 1940s American films Films with screenplays by John L. Balderston Films set on islands