O Porto do Inferno

Hell Harbor (1930)

** (out of 4)

Anita (Lupe Velez) dreams of reaching Havana and being "free" but her sadistic father (Gibson Gowland) trades her to a pawn seller (Jean Hersholt) but her one chance of escape comes from an American trader (John Holland) who shows up on the island. This pre-code has a reputation of being fairly dirty but I think most of the elements are rather weak or at least not as strong as some previous films. Sure, most of what we see here would be a major no no within a couple years but there are still much better and much dirtier pre-codes out there. In a lot of ways the story reminded me somewhat of D.W. Griffith's BROKEN BLOSSOMS because both films deal with a sweet girl being abused both mentally and physically by their father. King was a follower of Griffith so I do wonder if certain scenes in that 1919 classic were in his mind while filming this. The biggest problem I had with the film was the direction, which was quite weak from the start and things never really picked up until the very end. The current DVD offers the film up in an "uncut" 84-minute version and a shorter, wider released 63-minute version. I elected to watch the shorter version because several reviews I read said it was the better one and it isn't missing any of the "pre-code" stuff. From what I've read, the studio realized they had a pretty weak film so they took out a lot of the dialogue and released it with everything else in tact. I briefly jumped through the longer version and the majority of the uncut footage is just dialogue scenes that really add up to nothing. The pacing in the shorter version is pretty bad and it's even worse in the longer one because it never seems obvious what the director or screenwriter were trying to do. Velez dances around constantly trying to sell her innocence while the men look dirty and act like slime. Nothing ever really happens because the characters just talk, talk and talk some more and quite often these scenes just go no where as if they were just made up on the spot and the actors didn't know when to quit talking. Velez is pretty good in her role but the screenplay doesn't do her character much justice. The same is true with Holland who pretty much just stands around waiting to rescue the girl. Fans of GREED will enjoy seeing Hersholt and Gowland working together again and Universal horror fans will see a young Rondo Hatton in his first film. HELL HARBOR is a pretty weak movie all around and there's certainly not enough to make it worth sitting through unless you're a fan of one of the stars and must see everything they've done.

I want to thank the reviewer who called it sleazy and fascinating. That's exactly what I want to hear and what I call a great review! Spare me the psychoanalysis people and tell me the brass tacks like he did, ok?

So I therefore watched it based on the word 'sleazy', and what do ya know? Heck, this movie is one of sleaziest ever, so hot, not a dull moment from beginning to end.

Simply one of the greatest ever made!!

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.

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.

"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.