Le perle nere del Pacifico

Virginia Mayo is the only reason why you would feel like watching this naive story which looks like a very average comic strip.She sails to an island with her two pals to latch on to the black pearls (check the title).Best scenes are when she claims to be a missionary (sic) talking about the "true" God to a priest who has other fish to fry:celebrating a wedding for instance.

Although in love with one of the beachcombers ,Rita (Mayo) falls (or pretends to) in love with a native who knows where the treasure is hidden.But a giant octopus (is it the monster Cecil B.De Mille used in "reap the wild wind"(1942) and Ed Wood hired for "Bride of the monster" (1956)?)keeps a close watch on it.

Having learned of a South Sea island rich in black pearls, Rita, Dan and Bully arrive to find a hostile welcome from the islanders and the pearls guarded by a giant octopus.

Arrived, they find another white man has made himself high priest; but he doesn't any strangers coming to the island as he knows that it could lead destruction of his people. George, the latter's handsome son, is fair game because he's curious about the outside world ...

Plus there's Virginia Mayo who entices him to show her where the black pearls are- don't blame him as Mayo is at her sultry best. She plays a flawed character who is bitter about her past after being jilted by Dennis Morgan's character, but gradually sees the error of her ways. David Farrar is at his villainous best, though Virginia is the main scene stealer as well as the octopus!

Overall, it's a pleasing South Pacific adventure with a strong anti-colonialist message and the dangers of greed- the octopus fight wasn't dramatic enough, though. Liked the underwater scenes, however brief, and the drama and characters- they keep things rolling amidst the slight lagging pace.

The blonde Goddess of the fifties Virginia Mayo became a sexy symbol on popular imaginary herein after, making great movies like "The Flame and the Arrow" "Captain Horatio Hornblower" "The Iron Mistress" "The Prouder Ones" and so for, holder of a stunning beauty and slim, also a female fatale in several roles, here in "The Pearls of the South Pacific" a B-movie from RKO, such low budges picture with a secondary casting make some damages at his image as a movie of a sole star.

In adventures at South Seas the greedy and gorgeous Rita (Virginia Mayo) enters in a searching for an uncharted Polynesian island that has a valuable black pearls with two rough sailors the reliable Dan Merrill (Dennis Morgan) and the bleak Bully Hague (David Farrar) that she has romantic triangle affair ongoing, in the island a white old man Taun Michael (Basil Ruysdael) that became the high priest of this Polynesian natives who used to worship a Moai stone statue of the God Tagaloa his white son George (Lance Fuller) will marry a local native Momu (Lisa Montel) halted by the arrival of a small ship of the strangers, Taun Michael rejects any engagement with white people point out they bring diseases and downfall letting the group corned, thus Rita introduces herself as Christian Missionary that coming in peace, the distrustful high priest just allowed Rita drop off and delivery some supplies to they can go away soon as can.

On the island Rita enchants the naïve George aiming for to pinpoint where the black pearls coming from, the duped guy ends up yielding to the temptation displaying a lagoon where the black pearls are hidden, nonetheless a giant octopus is lurking underneath on the clean waters, meanwhile Taun had a stroke laying down at bed with Rita taking care him, afterwards Dan and Bully inebriates George and some natives, sadly after Bully got the black pearls stab George letting him agonizing near death, on the temple all natives are invites to they departure in a celebration watered by alcohol, then appears the Chief Halemano (Murvyn Vye) with the George body almost dead asking for a sacrifice to placate the wrath of God Tagaloa, the chosen is the blonde Rita.

Enjoyable picture for those afternoon matinee, where Virginia Mayo gracefully exposes her sexy legs, an exotic adventure at south seas with strong similitude of "Reap the Wild Wind" with octopus at lagoon, has many elements to enjoy adventure seekers like me, a slight underrated indeed!!

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First watch: 2023 / How many: 1 / Source: Youtube / Rating: 6.5.

Pearl of the South Pacific recently came on BBC2 one afternoon, so I set the video to record it and was pleased I did. It was one of several movies BBC2 were showing in tribute to its main star, Virgina Mayo, who died earlier this year (2005).

A woman and some men arrive on a remote island in the South Seas to search for some treasure. With it being the South Seas, you would expect danger, including a monster. There is a monster, a giant squid which is guarding the treasure, but is later killed. They discover the island is being ruled by a white man who has made this his home. There are also unfriendly natives who are hostile towards the visitors. The woman makes out she is a missionary and after some fighting and conflict which sees the ship explode and most of the men killed, everything is OK and the woman and the only other survivor from the ship, her fiancé are allowed to make the island their home.

As well as Virgina Mayo (White Heat), the movie also stars Dennis Morgan, David Farrar and Lance Fuller (This Island Earth).

Pearl of the South Pacific is an ideal way to spend almost an hour and a half one afternoon. A treat.

Rating: 3 and a half stars out of 5.

PEARL OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC is your usual Pacific island adventure yarn from the mid-1950s. It was directed by stalwart Canadian Allan Dwan, who had previously made SANDS OF IWO JIMA so had some idea about making films set in that part of the world. Indeed, Dwan's brisk and efficient direction is the best thing about this otherwise undistinguished movie.

The plot sees a trio of Americans masquerading as missionaries when in reality they're fortune-seekers looking for a hidden treasure of black pearls. First and foremost of these is blonde starlet Virginia Mayo, who the cameraman seems to be in love with; most of the focus is on her and her alone as she wears a succession of skimpy outfits and appears to be little more than a clothes horse at times. Mayo more than holds her own amid a largely undistinguished cast.

There's a little plot and a little intrigue with the locals although hardly anything in the way of real action. The usual dodgy ethics of the era abound, particularly in the depiction of backwards islanders who are Americans browned up with liberal fake sun tan. At least the Hawaiian locations give this an authentic look. The best part of the film is the inclusion of a real giant squid that also showed up in Ed Wood's BRIDE OF THE MONSTER.