This could have been a great film. It's a little turgid and it isn't brilliantly acted or directed. It's really a tribute to the amazing MGM special effects department. Almost the whole film was made in the studio (sound stages and back lot), and what wasn't was shot in Oregon. The filmmakers never went near the Mont-Saint-Michel-style channel island where about half the story takes place, nor to China, nor New Zealand. But you're transported to these places, thanks to MGM's technical and artistic know-how.
I wouldn't say that director Victor Saville was a master of the camera, exactly, and some of his set-ups, as well as his long takes, in the dialogue sections of the story, are uninteresting or inept - lost opportunities in the creative or dramatic use of film. In MGM's glory days, such a mammoth film would possibly have been directed by King Vidor, or Sidney Franklin. What we have instead is almost a film that succeeds in spite of itself. It should not have worked, but it does. Not as a film classic but as a massive piece of hokum that is beautifully costumed, designed, and produced. There are no great performances, there are no scenes that thrill us with the artistry of their composition or the depth of their drama. There is no great direction. Nonetheless, one is swept along.
I can't imagine the film without Lana Turner, despite her performance being at times close to high-school-play level. Hers is a character along the lines of Scarlett O'Hara (though thankfully far less complex), wondering why all the fools around her worry about things like honor or ethics when there's status to be gained and money to be made. Donna Reed, as her more staid sister, Van Heflin, as a dark and brooding adventurer who loves her in secret, Richard Hart as her ineffectual but attractive husband, and Frank Morgan, Gladys Cooper, Dame May Witty, Edmund Gwenn, Reginald Owen, Moyna McGill, and Linda Christian round out the cast. But it's Lana's picture all the way.
Bronislau Kaper composed the big score that produced a hit song ("On Green Dolphin Street"), a jazz standard recorded by many of the greats.
The film was one of two that were based on novels MGM acquired through a contest sponsored by the studio in the late '40's, with a prize of 200,000 dollars. The other novel was Raintree County (not filmed until 1957).
I wouldn't say that director Victor Saville was a master of the camera, exactly, and some of his set-ups, as well as his long takes, in the dialogue sections of the story, are uninteresting or inept - lost opportunities in the creative or dramatic use of film. In MGM's glory days, such a mammoth film would possibly have been directed by King Vidor, or Sidney Franklin. What we have instead is almost a film that succeeds in spite of itself. It should not have worked, but it does. Not as a film classic but as a massive piece of hokum that is beautifully costumed, designed, and produced. There are no great performances, there are no scenes that thrill us with the artistry of their composition or the depth of their drama. There is no great direction. Nonetheless, one is swept along.
I can't imagine the film without Lana Turner, despite her performance being at times close to high-school-play level. Hers is a character along the lines of Scarlett O'Hara (though thankfully far less complex), wondering why all the fools around her worry about things like honor or ethics when there's status to be gained and money to be made. Donna Reed, as her more staid sister, Van Heflin, as a dark and brooding adventurer who loves her in secret, Richard Hart as her ineffectual but attractive husband, and Frank Morgan, Gladys Cooper, Dame May Witty, Edmund Gwenn, Reginald Owen, Moyna McGill, and Linda Christian round out the cast. But it's Lana's picture all the way.
Bronislau Kaper composed the big score that produced a hit song ("On Green Dolphin Street"), a jazz standard recorded by many of the greats.
The film was one of two that were based on novels MGM acquired through a contest sponsored by the studio in the late '40's, with a prize of 200,000 dollars. The other novel was Raintree County (not filmed until 1957).