La furie des tropiques

Slattery's Hurricane (1949)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Mildly entertaining melodrama benefits from some nice performances by the leads. Pilot Slattery (Richard Widmark) takes off in a plane, flying through a hurricane where he looks back on his life. Most of this flashback centers on him running into a friend (John Russell) who he eventually stabs in the back and tries to steal his wife (Linda Darnell) while his own girlfriend (Veronica Lake) begins to lose control. While Slattery tries to steal the wife he has even more trouble from the men he works with who just happen to be involved in narcotics. At just 80-minutes this thing flies by pretty fast thanks in large part to the performances but in the end it's just way too predictable and full of too much melodrama to really work. I think the best aspect is the performance by Widmark who gets to act tough, as usual, but also manages to be very believable as the man simply struggling with his attitude and look on life. Widmark takes what could have been a simple tough guy role and adds some soul to it by really delivering a full character and one we can't help but feel as if we know. The cruelness that the character has towards anyone but himself is perfectly brought to life by the actor. Darnell doesn't get too much to do but she's certainly easy on the eyes. Russell's role is pretty thankless as well but I enjoyed all of his scenes with Widmark as the two certainly had a nice chemistry. Lake, who was married to the director at the time, doesn't come off nearly as good. I'm not sure what it was but just watch any scene she's in and it appears as if there's something really bothering her as she's constantly looking around and can't seem to keep her eyes still. Her role really wasn't written all that well but I still wasn't too impressed with her performance. The special effects of flying inside the hurricane were pretty good and it should be noted that Ray Kelloogg, director of classic drive-in fluff like THE KILLER SHREWS and THE GIANT GILA MONSTER, did the visual effects. I think the well-known cast will make people check this film out but the end results are rather mixed. There's some nice scenes and a couple decent performances but in the end you can't help but feel as if you're going through the motions and that you've seen this countless times before.

Why would Richard Widmark deliberately take his airplane and fly towards an incoming hurricane? Either he was trying to change his image from Kiss of Death and come across as a hero and romantic lead, or he needs the impending danger to reflect on his life choices. If you're a Widmark fan and would like to see him in a rare non-villainous role, this movie will be pretty entertaining for you. He'll have to choose between Veronica Lake and Linda Darnell, mend some friendships, and atone for some mistakes that hurt others. He has less than ninety minutes to do all that, so how will screenwriters Richard Murphy and Herman Wouk (who also wrote the original novel) make everything work out? Through flashbacks, of course.

Personally, the story isn't my favorite part of the movie. I'm in it for the eye candy. If you're looking for a better story, check out the same year's Down to the Sea in Ships. Dick is the second lead in that one, versus the title character in Slattery's Hurricane, but it will really have an impact on you. This movie is pretty much a romantic drama with a bit of suspense thrown in; after all, he is headed towards a hurricane.

DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. Many of the airplane scenes are filmed with tilted camera angles, bumpy footage, or strobelights from lightening, and that will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"

Lt. Willard Francis Slattery {Richard Widmark}, a former Navy pilot, is in control of this Grumman Mallard Aeroplane. He's flying right into the centre of a storm, a ferocious storm gathering momentum, here Slattery reviews his latter day life.

Slattery's Hurricane is directed by André De Toth and also stars Linda Darnell, Veronica Lake, John Russell and Gary Merill. It's based around a story written by Herman Wouk, and it's with Wouk that the interesting back story to the film belongs. Herman Wouk was of course the writer of Pulitzer Prize winning novel-The Caine Mutiny {also made into a fabulous film starring Humphrey Bogart}. It was while Wouk was researching weather data for "Mutiny" that he got the genesis for Slattery's Hurricane. Pitching it to 20th Century Fox, he got the go ahead for a screenplay, and feeling inspired he turned his short story into a fully fledged book.

Adapted by Richard Murphy, Slattery's Hurricane is a real good film stopped from being a great one due to the inevitable interference from the Production Code Administartion. Research into the film, and those who know the novel, shows the story to be a spiky one about adultery, drug smuggling and drug addiction, with closely formed characterisations leading the way. The observant will spot these things in the film anyway, but the toning down leaves us with a more melodramatic picture than a sharply dark one that the story deserved. However, it's with much credit to De Toth and his cast that the film is still an engrossing mood piece set around the birth of a raging hurricane, a hurricane that is not just of the storm itself, but of the emotional state of Will Slattery too. Grim nature and the troubled human condition dovetailing to create our finale of Slattery's Hurricane.

Richard Widmark is good value {wasn't he always?} as the lead protagonist, mean, moody and even menacing in his selfishness, Slattery called for an actor capable of blending emotional layers. The studio had wanted Tyrone Power for the role {perhaps showing the high hopes they had for the film?}, but they got Widmark instead, who rewards them {and us} with yet another memorable performance. Linda Darnell, softly spoken, sexy and exuding a femme fatale sheen, does well with what is a surprisingly underwritten part, tho we can probably thank {not!} the PCA for that issue. Veronica Lake, then married to director De Toth, had hoped for the film to signal a comeback for her faltering career, it wasn't to be, and that's sad because she's really rather great here. Heartfelt and giving the story a crucial counter point edge to Widmark's unfolding state, Lake served notice that she still had some quality to offer cinema. John Russell and Gary Merrill {whose opening narration sets the tone} do what is needed, but rightly play second fiddle to the three principals.

It could have done with better villains than the portrayals given by Walter Kingsford and Joe De Santis, but Slattery's Huricane remains a fine movie begging to be seen by more people. Still not given a DVD release and rarely shown on television, it's a film that if you get a chance to see it then you should grab that opportunity with both hands. 7/10

VERONICA LAKE was married to director Andre deToth at the time she made SLATTERY'S HURRICANE, a tale told in flashback by RICHARD WIDMARK as he pilots a plane through a horrendous storm and recalls a love affair he had with his best friend's wife (LINDA DARNELL). The friend is well played by JOHN RUSSELL, an actor under contract to Fox who never got to do much of anything but seemed as competent as any of the other up and coming contract players.

LINDA DARNELL, looking every inch a femme fatale, is only given a minor role in the proceedings and is quite forgettable. VERONICA LAKE, on the other hand, this time playing a good, sensible woman and not her usual femme fatale, is convincing enough as the right gal for Widmark.

Slow in getting started, it actually only gets into high gear once the storm scenes reach hurricane proportions--but by that time, you might have trouble staying awake through a very mediocre plot.

Based on a book by Herman Wouk (THE CAINE MUTINY), it's hardly a distinguished work.

After a brief meteorology lesson on just what causes hurricanes, we start with a pilot coshing his mate and stealing a plane. Sadly, that's about as exciting as this gets as we discover that the pilot is WWII veteran "Slattery" (Richard Widmark) who has been quite happily flying around Florida delivering what needs delivering - regardless of what it is! Anyway, as he powers through the sky and into the path of the eponymous storm, he starts to have flashbacks of just what led him to his current predicament. That's where we come in. We get to share those memories as his fairly selfish behaviour impacted on the lives of "Aggie" (Linda Darnell), "Dolores" (Veronica Lake) as well as on his military buddies led by the typically unremarkable Gary Merrill's "Kramer". There are plenty of windy audio effects and the sound stage sprinkler system was well put through it's paces, but the rather episodic style of the presentation along with way too much verbiage and a really rather lacklustre who did what to whom melodrama really never quite takes off. I always found Darnell to be a bit hit or miss, and here she hasn't loads to work with as the story takes us to where we know we have to end up... It's watchable, Saturday afternoon B-fayre, but I doubt you'll recall it for long afterwards.