Donovan's Reef

Dir: John Ford

1963

**

John Ford's 1963 comedy-drama is a rather brash film with a subtle anti-bigotry message. It's a satire of sorts but not nearly as funny or as clever as a film needs to be to be able to refer to itself as such. Set on a small Hawaiian island, Donovan's Reef is a miniature America in many respects, dealing with beliefs of societal superiority and hypocrisy and corporate connivance. Now, I applaud any film that dedicates itself to showing racial bigotry for the shameful and unacceptable thing it is but when it is drenched in misogyny and muscle-brained violence then it feels a little like it is one step forward, two steps back. This is the great John Ford at his not-so-greatest. John Wayne looks as if the heat has got to him and the mighty Lee Marvin is woefully wasted in his supporting role. Jack Warden's scenes were rather touching and Cesar Romero pretty much steals the show in his altogether brisk scenes. It's hard to look back at a film that challenges certain issues of the day but is incredibly out-dated now. There are many films that manage not to be, I'm afraid this is just a rather lazy attempt. There are high-points however, some of the jokes are funny and there is a rather beautiful extended Christmas scene that while being strangely out of place, gives the film a much needed calming mood, following a rather messy mad-cap first two-quarters. It's tiresome in script, dated in idea and the two main performances are rather stagnant but there are little splashes of the great John Ford to be found, albeit fleetingly, here and there.