La sauvagesse blanche

"Sam Miller" (Thomas Gomez) owns a gambling parlor on an island called Port Coral. Not too far away is another island called "Temple Island" which is essentially off-limits to most white men. The reason for this is because Sam has managed to pass a law to that effect. And the reason he did this is because he discovered gold underneath a pool adjacent to a native temple and he wants the gold all for himself. Then one day a man named "Frank Williams" discovers this gold as well and just happens to tell Sam about it. Wanting to keep the secret from anyone else, Sam strangles Frank. But things begin to get complicated when a shark fisherman by the name of "Kaloe" (John Hall) arrives and develops a romantic relationship with "Princess Tahia" (Maria Montez) who is the ruler of Temple Island. Anyway, although Kaloe becomes aware of the gold underneath the Temple's pool, he doesn't really care about it. But Sam doesn't know that and he is very intent upon getting it. Anyway, rather than disclose the entire story I will just say that this is a nice little tropical island film which manages to capture the beautiful island scenery pretty well. However, the acting isn't great by any means and the movie lacks a certain amount of depth. Personally, I would have preferred that it lasted a bit longer than 76 minutes but that's probably just me. All things considered I give it an average rating.

Maria Montez and Jon Hall have enchanted us in the forties, in magical stories taking place in Arabia, exotic jungles, paradise islands, in the South seas. The atmosphere provided by those films are forever lost now; totally. In the fifties, Universal Studios hired Yvonne de Carlo, Maureen O'Hara, Jeff Chandler, Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson, to replace Maria Montez and Jon Hall, who stopped their career together at the turn of the early fifties. This fantastic film also starred Sabu, an excellent actor also specialized in exotic films. It is very incredible that Sabu had never played with Montez - Hall. I was truly amazed to see those three together.

While so doing makes me feel an utter heel I really have no alternative but to dissent from Mr Theakston's enthusiastic review of this movie .It struck me as banal and downright racist in many ways .

Maria Montez , a statuesque Latino ,is improbably cast as a South Sea islands Princess who rules over Temple Island .The floor of the temple is submerged and it contains a number of solid gold bricks .The significance of this is lost on the inhabitants of the island but not on the villainous Sam Miller (Thomas Gomez-giving the only halfway decent performance in the movie).He resolves that when the time is ripe he will seize the gold and marry the Princess too.He is not above murdering any who get in his way and he ensures the Princess' brother (Turhan Bey)is in his debt by cheating him at cards thus making sure the young man is perpetually in hock to him Enter the dashing Kahoe (Jon Hall) a shark hunter needing her permission to set up operations near Temple Island .He works out Miller's schemes and hindered rather than helped by sidekick Orano(Sabu) and the local factotum,part lawyer ,part policeman Dr Wong(Sidney Toler in Charlie Chan mode) sets out to thwart his plans and win the hand of the Princess The acting is generally woeful and the script trite .the ending is lively enough and there is some fun to be had at its sheer awfulness Some may revel in camp and I am capable of doing so but only when it is good camp -say The Doctor Phibes movies -but witless trash is not my scene .this is a waste of time

WHITE SAVAGE (1943) was one of first three Universal Picture Technicolor productions when they acquired their contract with the company (the other two being "Phantom of the Opera" and "Arabian Nights", and it shows in every respect.

I was fortunate enough to catch White Savage on the big screen a few months back and was thoroughly impressed with the acting, script, and most of all, the beautiful set design and lavish Technicolor photography. The added sex appeal of Maria Montez does not hurt, either.

Again, like in "Arabian Nights", Montez is teamed up with Jon Hall as Kaloe, a shark hunter who is after Vitamin A to sell. Unfortunately, he is unable to fish around Temple Island, where all of the sharks seem to be. He meets a rascally friend named Orano (Sabu) who, through connections, gets him to meet the Princess (Montez). Needless to say, after some mishaps, the two fall in love. Also in the picture is Princess Tahia's brother (played by Turhan Bey) who is a gambler and loses to Miller (Thomas Gomez), who is after the treasure hidden in the palace pool.

The cast here, like most of the Universal Technicolor productions, is an all star one. Montez, Hall, Sabu and Bey end up all being Univeral-Tech favorites, and show up in almost all of the films. Also a rare treat is the added distinction of Sidney Toler in his Charlie Chan make-up, in an obviously similar role of a detective/lawyer/banker/et al. Thomas Gomez and Don Terry also round up the cast.

The photography is constantly colorful. There is not one scene in the film where there isn't a splash of blue, red or green somewhere in the picture. Direction by Arthur Lubin is adequate, while the script by Richard Brooks never slows down when it shouldn't.

Unfortunately, White Savage (1943) is not available on tape or disk, and due to the fact that Universal's commercial catalog lists the title as "black and white" by mishap (a simple error they have yet to corrected), most television stations will not play it. Even AMC, with a recent line-up of all the Montez titles, left this gem out of the package.

I would strongly urge anyone at Universal or with any influence to investigate this film. It's quite an adventure, and is sure to attract audiences.

I give it 8 or 9 out of 10. Not perfect, but at a little over an hour, time well spent.

Kaloe, a shark hunter (Jon Hall) needs the permission of Princess Tahia (Montez) to sail in her waters. Tahia lives on a secluded island, but she and Kaloe fall in love thanks to the matchmaking of young Orano (Sabu). However, it's not all smooth sailing (never is!), as they have serious problems related to her troubled brother Tamara (Turhan Bey) and dangerous businessman Sam Miller (Thomas Gomez).

Miller and his henchman Erik (Paul Guilfoyle) have evil plans to steal jewels decorating the bottom of Princess Tahia's sacred swimming pool, but Tahia is confident the god Tangaroa will protect the pool.

Miller, however, is a very determined, evil person, who kills multiple people and frames Kaloe for one of the murders.

Thanks to the cunning of local banker-detective-lawyer-doctor Wong (Sidney Toler), perhaps Kaloe will find a way to survive...

With White Savage you get a brisk pace, bright costumes; amusing comedy, romance, beautiful set designs, lavish photography and a spectacular earthquake - Jon Hall makes a likeable hero, Sabu is charming and Maria Montez sizzles as always. She might not be a great actress but her charisma and beauty is undeniable. Nice to see Sidney Toler play a lawyer, though he still comes across as Charlie Chan. Thomas Gomez makes a nasty villain. It's an enjoyable light adventure that doesn't tax your brain.