(It’s from the Hazel Flagg collection.)
Romance is in the air…
See?
There’s a lot of stuff going on in this movie — a lot! There’s (at least) two love interests, somebody is going to steal some gold, there’s double-crossing, there’s a coward officer, there’s a typhoon, pirates, and several people are run over by a steamroller! It’s one of those movies where they’re throwing in everything they have…
… and it’s pretty entertaining.
(Even if it’s unexpectedly brutal.)
Dastardly Asians!!!
It’s pretty good. I mean:
Irving Thalberg had worked on the film since 1930 when he assigned three different writers to come up with three different treatments. By 1931 Thalberg had decided on the one storyline and spent the next four years working on a script with two dozen writers, half a dozen dir/and three supervisors.
It certainly feels like it’s been through dozen of script doctors who had added stuff, but it does work — it’s an entertaining movie.
But it’s a bit creaky.
China Seas. Tay Garnett. 1935. ⚃
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