Der Rebell von Java

Out in the Dutch East Indies and Captain Boll is out looking for treasure, diamonds to be exact. But he is not alone, and not only does he have to contend with on board grumblings, he has angry tribesmen and a rumbling volcano thrown into the bargain as well.

Fair Wind To Java is a just above average adventure yarn, gleaming colour and a tidy production ensure it's a watchable piece. The standard plot formula {complete with pretty female love interest} is boosted by the film's last quarter, here the viewers patience is rewarded with fights aplenty and the presence of Krakatau volcano literally doing its stuff. In fact the last quarter is a joy for those with home cinema, rough seas and volcanic rumblings boom out of the speakers, and certainly up the ante of the viewing experience. Outside of that the film doesn't have much else to highlight, the acting in the main is fine, Fred MacMurray as Boll and Victor McLaglen as O'Brien both turn in solid professional performances, but Vera Ralston as Kim Kim is desperately poor in the main female role.

Not one to recommend to adventure fans with any great confidence, but certainly worth a look on a rainy day. 6/10

In glorious trucolour! Another Republic storybook masterpiece from the last 5 years of the studio, this is an Indiana Jones pirate/volcano movie before anyone thought of Indie...or Did Spielberg Lucas see this aged 8 are regurgitate it into the 80s as with Star Wars 70s epics from other Republic (serial) adventures of the 40s. Actually, don't Spielberg Lucas owe Republic Studios a lot!!.......FAIR WIND TO JAVA stayed in cinema circulation even after 1960 and was often seen in cinema screens at Kids matinees with other Republic films like TOBOR or the hopeless western botch PAWNEE. The 1969 cinerama sized KRAKATOA EAST OF JAVA (it was west, actually) might have attempted a bigger screen and scope, but this 1953 version with Fred and the pirates - and genuinely beautiful art direction and great modelwork, is a lot more fun. Even Vera the acting wife came out of this one well.

A thrilling action adventure story is the scenario for "Fair Wind To Java." There is fighting among pirates and good guys, a graphic flogging of a beautiful slave girl and a massive eruption of a volcano, all in brilliant color. Although it's the usual good guys vs. bad guys genre, the story line is good and action abounds everywhere as the good and the bad search for a fortune in diamonds. Good performances by MacMurray, Ralston and Douglas.

Republic Pictures knew how to do two things really well—action and special effects. Both are on showcase display in this south seas epic. Okay, no one expects deep think or character development from the studio of the matinée western, and this 90-minutes doesn't disappoint. For Republic, story was just an excuse to stage barroom brawls and shootouts, anyway. The plot here appears a cut-and-paste job from one of their many Saturday afternoon serials (e.g. a masked mastermind), while the characters seldom rise above stereotype.

Still, studio honcho Yates spent what for them was a bundle. He even went out and hired A- list Fred MacMurray to pair up with his hapless sweetie Vera Hruba Ralston. MacMurray, always the professional, gives his sea captain his all, while native girl Ralston has little more to do than get dragged around. I'm still puzzled, however, by handsome John Russell's presence in what seems a tacked-on role. Maybe it was something of a screen test for bigger and better things.

Anyway, the Trucolor is gorgeous, the action fast and furious if often mindless, while Krakatoa blows up real good. So, if you want your eyes entertained at the same time your brain takes a rest, be sure to tune in.

Fred MacMurray is the captain of a schooner sailing in Dutch East Indies waters. He's gotten wind of some fabulous diamonds, and possession of dancing girl Vera Ralston who knows where they are. Meanwhile, he has to deal with John Russell, who's the owners' representative aboard the ship, pirate Robert Douglas, and the fact that the diamonds are on a little island in the Sunda Strait called Krakatoa. And, of course, it's 1883.

It's certainly not a great movie by any means, but under the direction of reliable Joseph Kane and, for Republic Pictures, an 'A' budget, it's a swell movie for kids and men who have never quite grown up. Jack Marta handles the Technicolor cameras well, and if it seems all bright cloths and sets from Republic's disappearing serial department, it does what is expected of cheap historical fiction. Certainly the Lydecker Brothers must have had fun setting up the special effects for when Krakatoa blows up. With Victor McLaglen, Claude Jarman Jr., and Grant Withers.