The Hurricane

In the South Pacific, a colonial governor’s (Raymond Massey) hard-nosed stance complicates the lives of a native couple (Dorothy Lamour and Jon Hall) much to the dismay of his wife (Mary Astor) and physician (Thomas Mitchell).

The Hurricane, from director John Ford is a disaster movie. Not a disaster of a movie, but part of the first wave of environmental disaster films that Hollywood turned out in the late 30s. The genre came to prominence again in the 70’s with films like Airport and The Towering Inferno, and again in the late 90s with films like Volcano and Titanic, and as recently as The Day After Tomorrow.

That said, The Hurricane is pure melodrama capped off with an exceptional set piece, but the thing is, it works.

Though it pushes too many buttons in setting up its finale, The Hurricane holds your attention, often through the sheer charisma of its performers. Aside from Jon Hall, who looks nothing like a South Pacific native, and thus comes across as more like an island Tarzan, the cast is top-notch. Top-billed Dorothy Lamour really don’t have much to do as Hall’s love interest, but she’s fine nonetheless. Raymond Massey is great as a letter-of-the-law-obsessed governor, as is Thomas Mitchell in a part that would foreshadow his Oscar winning role in Ford’s later film, Stagecoach. Rounding out the supporting cast is Mary Astor as Massey’s character’s wife, and the always solid C. Aubrey Smith as the island minister.

And once it gets to the titular finale, watch out. Even by 1937 standards, the effects are impressive and hold up just fine to this day. Like the climax of Titanic, it’s a stunning technical achievement made more immediate by the viewer’s emotional investment in the characters involved. You care about what happens to these people and are on the edge of your seat throughout the storm.

In the end, The Hurricane is an easy film to recommend and one that deserves mention alongside Ford’s best films.