Donovanās Reef
Legendary director John Ford and legendary star John Wayne made a good number of quality films together, and this effort from 1963 would be the last of their collaborations, kind of a light-hearted affair set in a tropical paradise that has more relation to an Elvis movie (minus the singing) than any of their Western or War classics, but still shines due to Fordās exquisite eye for detail with amazing cinematography showing off the location, not to mention a charming, funny script with a pretty engaging story and a top notch supporting cast.Ā Wayne, Lee Marvin, and Jack Warden play three Navy buddies who had fought on the island during World War II, then retired there after they had been decommissioned, where Warden is the resident doctor and Wayne and Marvin run the local watering hole while engaging in a heated rivalry centering around the idea that they share the same birthday and thus must always have an annual birthday brawl to settle it, reviving the theme from The Quiet Man that the surest way for two men to bond is to beat the living shit out of each other.Ā One day Wardenās long lost daughter arrives from Boston, presumably to finalize a stipulation in a family will that if her father is not of āsound moral characterā, that she alone will inherit the family fortune.Ā Since Warden is actually off the island on business at the time of her arrival (and has three kids due to a union between he and an island Princess), Wayne takes it upon himself to spirit the kids off to his place and claim them to be his own, all the while showing the daughter around the island until her father returns.Ā In all, itās quite a charming little piece, even if it moves at a leisurely pace, and it probably would have been a good idea to allow Marvin (who slyly tries to steal every scene heās in, even if heās in the background) to have more screen time as the comic relief buffoon, but alas, after he returns to the island in the opening scene and has a good hard brawl with The Duke, is shuttered to the sidelines for the majority of the film, save for another wild brawl at the end with some visiting Aussie sailors (where nonetheless he hilariously takes every possible opportunity for a cheap shot at The Duke in the process).Ā As Wardenās estranged daughter, Elizabeth Allen brings beauty and class to the enterprise, as The Duke wears her down and āmakes her a human beingā, but it is Jacqueline Malouf as her half sister who is truly spellbinding, sadly accepting the fact that for the time being she canāt accept the visitor as her own family and bringing a real elegant grace to the proceedings; plus we get Cesar Romero (aka The Original Joker) as the governor of the island who also decides to court Allen when he learns just how much sheās worth; Dorothy Lamour as the aging island girl who forever carries a torch that Marvin will settle down and marry her; and Mike Mazurki as the resident police officer on the island who lays back and does nothing whenever a brawl breaks out in the saloon.Ā Truly a likable bunch of actors that, along with a likable script, makes for a good light entertainment that proves that The Duke most definitely had some sensitivity as an actorā¦
8/10