Enjoyable south seas tale from a Robert Louis Stevenson novel I'm not that familiar with - The Ebb Tide. It's a solid story - three dissipates on a Pacific Island get a gig transporting a boat of champagne to Sydney; two of them decide to steal the cargo, leaving the third (Rory Calhoun) to form an alliance with the daughter (Rhonda Fleming) of the owner. Then they wind up at an island run by a religious maniac (Alan Napier) and have to escape.
You can see why Calhoun was snapped up by talent scouts and why his initial public appearance as Lana Turner's date called a stir - he's tall and handsome and has a bit of zing. But at this stage he was very awkward and uncomfortable on camera. The same goes for Rhonda Fleming who is hurt by the fact the version of the film I saw was in black and white (apparently there's a colour version).
They are attractive though and there's a strong support cast including Paul Kelly (who, like Calhoun, had been in prison), John Abbott (as a drunk) and Napier. And the local natives are even given a bit of a plot - it's only a little bit but it's more than many south sea films of this time.
The handling isn't very good but the script is solid - Maxwell Shane was Pine-Thomas' go-to guy and you can see why - and the story holds. And I like south sea movies.
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