Hell Harbor

Interesting, rarely seen film that is notable for the re-teaming of Jean Hersholt and Gibson Gowland, who made such memorable enemies in Erich von Stroheim's GREED (1924). For genre fans though it is also memorable as the first screen appearance of Rondo Hatton. Filmed in Florida, Hatton was working as a reporter for the Tampa Herald at the time and was probably spotted there by director Henry King. Though Hatton's glandular condition, acromegaly, was already noticeable we can see it is not nearly as pronounced as it was in his later Universal films. Rondo has the small role of the bartender in a dusty dive in the small coastal village where the action takes place. He may or may not have any lines. In one scene where the lights go out and a murder takes place a voice cries out "He's done for!" and that MIGHT be Rondo's voice but it is hard to tell. Henry King gave Rondo that old line (which was probably a cliche even in 1930) "If you ever come to Hollywood come and see me." Well it took Hatton 7 years to make up his mind but finally he boarded a train for the west coast, leaving behind a wife who thought he was wasting his time. His first film in Hollywood was IN OLD CHICAGO (1937) also directed by Henry King. Rondo is billed 17th in the credits and listed as "bodyguard" though several people in the film call his character "Rondo". It was the start of a short but memorable career, capped by immortality in 3 Universal pictures where he played the spine snapping "Creeper". Nicely done Rondo, you lived the dream.

"Hell Harbor" is an early talkie and it feels like it. The script is stilted and unfocused. The best part of the film is when Lupe Velez (as Anita Morgan) sings.

Unfortunately, the quality of the print I saw was very rough, with skips in both the video and audio. Some dialogue--no matter how inept--was difficult to hear.

Much of the acting is over the top. The story is very simple. And with little character development, the motivations of the characters are ambiguous. Having little to work with, the actors abilities are not showcased well.

The only real plot concerns Anita's desire to go to Havana. But her father plans to sell her (in marriage) to a coarse local who entices him with pearls.

"Tonight, near you, that song makes me think of love. The moon warms me in its light. Still the stars twinkle just for me."

What starts off as a rather creaky old film, not helped by the state of its preservation or by its moving along at a rather ponderous pace, turned into halfway decent film, mainly because of the charms of Lupe Velez. And there's great casting all around, with Jean Hersholt and Gibson Gowland appearing as a couple of island rakes, six years after playing enemies in Erich von Stroheim's silent classic Greed. It's one of those pre-Code films that played upon the enticement of an "exotic" locale, in this case, an island in the Caribbean, but instead of glamorizing it, we feel the grit and sleaze of the place. Dance halls are filled with dangerous men who will do anything for money. One such man (Gowland) regularly beats his daughter (Velez) and wants to sell her into a marriage with a lecherous trader (Hersholt). The young woman recoils at the thought, and dreams of going to Havana. Enter a handsome sailor (John Holland) and, well, you get the idea. Not unexpectedly, there is a "white savior" aspect to the story.

Velez was just 22 in this film, her second talkie, and she has lots of charming moments. She sings while dreaming of Havana and dances playfully on the beach, but she also stands up to her father as he tries to whip her, threatening to kill him with a knife if he keeps it up. She shows quite a range between moments of dismay over her fate to standing proudly at the bow of the little boat and sneaking aboard the trader's vessel. There is also a truly sublime moment when she's dreaming something rapturous and is woken up - she's wonderful and is captured beautifully. In the version of the film that is 83 minutes long, it appeared at roughly the 51:40 point. Overall, it's not a great film, but it was entertaining anytime she was on the screen, and that was enough to make me happy I saw this.

This film begins on a remote island somewhere in the Caribbean Sea with a lecherous man by the name of "Joseph Horngold" (Jean Hersholt) owning the local trading post and seeking to buy a beautiful woman named "Anita Morgan" (Lupe Velez) as a wife from her ill-tempered and destitute father "Henry Morgan" (Gibson Gowland). Anita, on the other hand, wants nothing to do with Joseph Horngold and seeks to take whatever measures she can to prevent the marriage at all costs. It's then that a young sea captain named "Bob Wade" (John Holland) arrives in Hell Harbor and after one look Anita is immediately attracted to him. Of course, the fact that he can deprive Joseph Horngold of the money he needs to buy her from her father also figures into her considerations as well. In any case, he soon unwittingly becomes a central player in Anita's plan to find happiness and she is willing to do whatever it takes in that regard. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an extremely old film which definitely shows its age in all departments. It was also rather boring. That being said, I generally overlook certain faults in older films of this type due to my belief that one should not hold it to the same standards of today. But it was difficult for me to ignore the incredibly slow pace and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

If you want to view Henry King's "Hell Harbor" simply as a form of entertainment, then you'll probably enjoy it. Otherwise, it seems kind of flat, with Lupe Vélez playing a woman whose father wants to marry her off, but she hopes to flee to Havana with a sailor from the US.

I guess the fact remains that most movies out of Hollywood don't have the most complex plots. One thing about this one is that it got released before the Hays Code, and there's a scene or two that couldn't have gotten filmed a few years later.

It's somewhat entertaining, if nothing special. Vélez's co-star Jean Hersholt was the paternal half-uncle (by marriage) of Leslie Nielsen.