Jornada Tétrica

Burl Ives and his band of lowlife bird poachers are the equivalent of the "rednecks" in "Deliverance". Christopher Plummer on the other hand is their Audobon Society adversary, trying to protect the tropical birds and their valuable feathers. When the movie is in the Everglades, it moves along at a pretty good pace, while the Miami scenes feel padded. I'd imagine there has to be at least a bunch of fashionable ladies parading around in their feathered hats to make a point, but the scene on the beach and Gypsy Rose Lee's ladies of the evening are somewhat overplayed. The film is strongest when Ives and Plummer are on screen, almost everyone else is forgettable. I would rate this only slightly above average, but definitely watchable. - MERK

I first saw this film as a youngster, and it had a huge impression on me. As this movie showed on TV semi regularly back then I watched it many times. I was blown away the first time and every other time I saw it. With each re-watching I always picked up on new things I'd missed or didn't understand before, I was a kid after all.

Wind Across the Everglades invokes raw power, beauty, commitment, wilderness, redemption, morality, Human Nature, Nature.

This movie really needs to be re-released on DVD. I haven't seen it in maybe 36 years or more, but still consider it a major "Classic" that has everything going for it..great acting, great story, a non-partisan moral.

I love this movie and the important message to brings!

In this peculiar movie there various and motley characters , such as : Burl Ives as Cottonmouth, more terrrifying than the dreadly marshland he ruled , Chistopher Plummer , the one who dared go in after him, Gypsy Rose Lee who imported the Girls , Tony Galento the heavy wright fighter as Beef , he escaped with Sammy Renick , the famous jockey , a renegade from the track, Emmett Kelly , the great circus clown , as Bigamy Bob , the multi-married outlaw McKinlay Kantor and introducing a new European star from Poland , lovely Chana Eden . The people passions and plunder that swept the 1000 terror-miles of everglades ¡ Storming the heights of motion picture greatness ¡. Hollywood bulletion : Nothing like it since " Grapes of Wrath" . Best-selling novel now on the screen, now the screen is adult enough !. Please see it from the beginning . No motion picture ever stabbed so deep ¡

This is an offbeat movie plenty of barroque scenes , ecologism, rare roles , disjointed set pieces and gorgeous outdoors from Florida . Financed by Warner Bros and produced by Stuart Schulberg and script by his brother Budd Schulberg , the prestigious man who gave you "On the Waterfront" . Schulberg attempted to take the filmmaking against an alcoholic Nicholas Ray, and finally Budd made the final scenes. Main and support cast are pretty good . The incombustible Christopher Plummer in his second screen appearance is pretty nice as the ornithologist who fights a bunch of bird poachers and Burl Ives is top-notch as the boss who imposes his own law in the Florida Everglades . And fine support cast , such as: Gypsy Rose Lee , Pat Henning , introducing Chana Eden and Peter Falk in his feature debut , among others .

Here stands out the stunning cinematography shot on location in Florida marshland , showing the lush exteriors and a lot of wildlife and birds that are the peculiar and real protagonists of this nice movie. The motion picture was uneven but professionally directed by Nicholas Ray in his usual style . He was a great director who made masterpieces , successes and failures . Ray directed all kinds of genres as Epic , Noir Film , Drama , Western , Religious , Wartime, such as : "The live by Night" , "Knock in any Door" , "In a lonely place" , "Born to be bad" , "On Dangerous Ground", "Flying Leathernecks", "The Lusty Man" , "Johnny Guitar", "Party Girl", "The King of Kings" , "55 days in Pekin" and several others. Rating : Notable 7/10. Better than average . The film will appeal to Christopher Plummer fans that he is still playing with certain success , as well as followers of this great and rebel filmmaker called Nicholas Ray . Essential and indispensable watching .

And in Nicholas Ray's canon,it's not the only one.Few directors (if there were any) displayed ecological concern fifty years ago.Maybe John Huston did when he filmed the plight of the elephants in "roots of Heaven" at the time.But it was not as successful as "wind across the everglades.

They say Ray did not finish the film (once again it was not the only one;see also "55 days at Peking" )but ,apart from his plea for the everglades wildlife,we find one of his permanent features:the Walt/Cottonmouth relationship is very complex and verges on a father and son one (for that matter ,see also " knock on any door" "the lusty men" " run for cover" ..) The picture with these birds flying away is sublime.