Wake of the Red Witch
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Movie Reviews of Wake of the Red Witch
Movie Review: The DUKE and Gail, together again!
Summary: 4 Stars
After the classic "Angel and the Badman", DUKE and Gail Russell paired again for this effort, "Wake of the Red Witch".A tale of the effects revenge, greed, and bittnerness can have on people, the story traces the duel of words and intrigue between two men; Captain Ralls (The DUKE), and shipping magnate Mayrant Sidneye.
DUKE skippers Sidneye's prize ship, the Red Witch, and purposely wrecks her in a plan to cheat Sidneye out of a cargo of gold. Turns out that Sidneye had plotted to steal away DUKE's girl, Angelique Desaix (played by the lovely and angelic Gail Russell).
Tricking DUKE into a fatal confrontation with the girl's father, Sidneye is able to marry Angelique before The DUKE can set things right. This leads to her unhappiness, and The DUKE takes revenge on Sidneye by wrecking the Red Witch.
A wonderful study of greed, revenge, and redmption, we see the tale through the eyes of a young seaman (Gig Young), who Ralls sees as his younger self.
Familiar faces in the cast include Paul Fix, Henry Daniell, Jeff Corey, Erskine Sanford, and Grant Withers.
Gail is gorgeous, as usual.
Movie Review: John Wayne is being himself.
Summary: 4 Stars
Log before "The Deep" there was "Wake of the Red Witch" A fury filled adventure and a passionate love story with Gail Russell who says ...I can't be bought."
John pits himself up against ruthless (Dutch) people and a giant (flimsy) octopus and (sturdy) Gail Russell in an effort to recover some pearls. And someone is killed in the movie.
You get an early view of Gig Young as Sam Rosen who can be seen again in "Ask Any Girl" (1959)
All in all, it is a very watchable movie and you may be surprised that you are caught up in the story.
Ask Any Girl [VHS]
Movie Review: Worth Viewing but Not Remembering
Summary: 3 Stars
I am a big John Wayne fan. I love watching his movies. I enjoyed this one as well even though it is not a particularly good effort of his. It was entertaining but did not really catch the imagination.
If I remember correctly, this film is a semi-remake of one he did jsut a few years earlier. Compared to that horror, this one is excellent but don't try to compare it to some of his greater works like "The Quiet Man", the cavalry trilogy or even "Donovan's Reef". Those are great and memorable; this one is merely an afternoon's mindless entertainment, soon forgetten in the detail if not the minutiae.
THe story revolves around two men with a feud over a woman. In this case, both men are involved in shipping in the South Pacific in the days of sail. Wayne commits an act of barratry (piracy conducted by a ship's own crew) against the ship of his rival. The rival wants revenge but so does the Duke. In the end, the sea sorts it all out.
Purchase this movie if you are a diehard John Wayne fan who must have all his work. Otherwise, rent it.
Movie Review: Duke 1, Squid 0
Summary: 3 Stars
WAKE OF THE RED WITCH has it all: An island full of half-naked Polynesian islanders, carved stone heads that stand twenty-feet high, a scuttled schooner laden with gold, the pearl god Tara-Tatu, breathless Euro chicks steaming it up beneath the vines and palm fronds on the RKO backlot, a succession of improbable flashbacks and John Wayne going mano-a-mano with a giant squid.
This movie is a high seas, wooden-ships-and-iron-men costumer that spends most of its time tracking the tempest tossed romance `tween the Duke and Gail Russell, and the bitter rivalry between Wayne and the skullduggerous Luther Adler.
WAKE OF THE RED WITCH is decently unmemorable in all respects, non-essential viewing for even the hardiest of John Wayne loyalists. It's filled with useless posturings and is based on a popular forgotten novel of the day. Others may find it riveting, but I spent most of my time trying to figure out how Wayne kept his toupee in place during the underwater scenes.
Movie Review: Watchable....
Summary: 3 Stars
Here is a very average movie that John Wayne made during the most brilliant portion of his career. If you consider that he had just made "Red River", Fort Apache", & "Three Godfathers", and was going on to make "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon", "Sand of Iwo Jima", "Rio Grande", & "The Quiet Man"....then you have to say that "Wake of the Red Witch" was just bringing in a paycheck for him. It's overly wordy, and has two extensive flashbacks which only serve to confuse the plot more. As for the DVD, it's quality is first rate. Artisan has been very spotty putting out the Duke's films on DVD. Some like "The Flying Tigers" have been mastered from original negatives, while others, like "The Quiet Man" look like they came from a fifth generation copy. Anyway, this transfer will not disappoint.