Hurricane

HURRICANE is not a great film, but it sure IS entertaining. Some of the scenes and situations are ludicrous (Jason Robards has the hots for his daughter, Mia Farrow) and the dialogue is often hilarious. But if you stick around, you'll find that the production values are astonishing. Among the talents behind the camera are Jan Troell (THE EMIGRANTS, THE NEW LAND), who directed; Sven Nykvist (cinematographer for many of Ingmar Berman's later films) who filmed on location in the South Pacific; and Nino Rota, who wrote a lovely, haunting musical theme. The performances aren't so bad (considering the dialogue) and the special effects at the end show you why this was one of the most expensive films of its day.

Although this is a remake of the famous and far superior John Ford masterpiece, HURRICANE manages to be one of MIA FARROW's least impressive jobs as an actress--not entirely her fault since the script, based this time on the Nordhoff-Hall novel, is a mess. It's really not the same storyline used in the Ford film.

The only similarity to the original is that it ends with a furious hurricane that cost $22 million to recreate but doesn't save the disastrously weak story from being anything but an unmitigated bore. The love interest is practically non-existent, consisting of close-up stares between Mia and her island sweetheart. Whenever there is any dialog, it's about as clumsy as can be. (Example: When he proposes that they elope, he says: "Come to the altar with the white flower--I will be there with the red.") Somebody should of been there with some directorial talent. Jan Troell falls far short of John Ford, as does the script. Usually, it's worth it to sit through a boring romance to see the howler of a hurricane. In this case, not so.

In view of the disaster-movie cycle of the 1970s, somebody got the bright idea of remaking the John Ford classic THE HURRICANE (1937) – lavishing on it a considerable budget, a handful of stars, and the best that special effects wizardry could afford at the time; however, the end result was so dreadful (and old-fashioned) that the film proved a notorious flop!

The setting (adapted from a book by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, best-known for another adventure with an exotic backdrop, "Mutiny On The Bounty") is a South Sea island run by the American Navy; the arrival of the Governor's daughter causes a commotion – the newly-crowned native King forsakes his local girl for the white woman's charms; this obviously creates problems between the two sets of inhabitants, who do not wish to have their blood mingle…but, before the situation can be resolved, the Forces of Nature contrive to mete out their own form of justice (via the titular catastrophe).

Jason Robards Jr. is the Governor, Mia Farrow his daughter, and Dayton Kane the young ruler; besides, Max von Sydow is a doctor, Trevor Howard a priest, Timothy Bottoms a Navy officer (with feelings for Farrow) and James Keach as Kane's hostile keeper (the latter having been convicted of his fiancé's death, who drowned after fleeing a ceremony in which her virginity was to be ascertained!). Despite enviable credentials – producer Dino De Laurentiis, acclaimed Swedish director Troell, cinematographer Sven Nykvist, composer Nino Rota (whose contribution is particularly notable) and production designer Danilo Donati – the film is something of a snoozer, with endless footage devoted to local color and the unconvincing central romance…until the spectacular climax (but which still isn't really enough to redress the balance)!

Having re-acquainted myself with this (I'd already watched it as a kid), I hope someday to get a fresh appraisal of the Oscar-winning original as well; it was available on DVD very early into the format, but hasn't been re-issued since going out-of-print!

Have you heard the old LP or CD score for this film? It is one of the most exquisite suites of film music ever created. Memorable and infinitely playable at home. Friends say: "what is that lovely music?" and you say: "the love theme from Hurricane, you know, with Mia Farrow." They do not understand and you just keep sashaying about as you serve a tray of crackers with pineapple chunks. Sadly though, HURRICANE was a monumental disaster of its own when released in 1979. Here in Sydney Australia it played the 900 seat ASCOT Theatre, built for My Fair Lady (alas that never screened there) but found huge success with 70mm spectaculars like SWEET CHARITY and RYANS DAUGHTER, two films that struggled overseas but ran for over 12 months each in Sydney. Perhaps that was the reason HURRICANE went in, after all, the Ascot also had a 60ft cinema-scope screen, and HURRICANE looked as spectacular as SOUTH PACIFIC meets THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, given this film was set both in the 1920s and on Bora Bora. Within 2 weeks, the distributor sent another print to the theater. Gone was half an hour, and HURRICANE shrank from 120 mins to 90mins overnight. Other comments here complain about how boring it is, but really, it isn't, HURRICANE is quite exquisite, a bit silly, and a lot beautiful... then whoosh, mighty seas and winds that see our ukulele crossed lovers up a tree. Great special effects, a church squashed by a freighter in the middle of the storm, and that heavenly plunking and strumming. HURRICANE deserves re appraisal and a DVD release with extras, set and costume pix and clips, and maybe Mia Farrow and Timothy Bottoms hosting a chat. It was made with real heart and basically is a slow tropical drama with a mighty windy finale. But that music! Oh! so sublime.

I don' understand why most words written about this film have been negative. Just because it is a remake of a film people think is a classic? This version of Hurricane with Jason Robards and Mia Farrow is a very competantly told story with good special effects. I was involved. I was moved from beginning to end. I felt that the characters were a little more credible than in the John Ford film. A very good film but not a popular one. I had to tape it at 3AM.