Pearl of the South Pacific

Having learned of a South Sea island rich in black pearls, Rita, Dan and Bully arrive to find a hostile welcome from the islanders and the pearls guarded by a giant octopus.

Arrived, they find another white man has made himself high priest; but he doesn't any strangers coming to the island as he knows that it could lead destruction of his people. George, the latter's handsome son, is fair game because he's curious about the outside world ...

Plus there's Virginia Mayo who entices him to show her where the black pearls are- don't blame him as Mayo is at her sultry best. She plays a flawed character who is bitter about her past after being jilted by Dennis Morgan's character, but gradually sees the error of her ways. David Farrar is at his villainous best, though Virginia is the main scene stealer as well as the octopus!

Overall, it's a pleasing South Pacific adventure with a strong anti-colonialist message and the dangers of greed- the octopus fight wasn't dramatic enough, though. Liked the underwater scenes, however brief, and the drama and characters- they keep things rolling amidst the slight lagging pace.

The blonde Goddess of the fifties Virginia Mayo became a sexy symbol on popular imaginary herein after, making great movies like "The Flame and the Arrow" "Captain Horatio Hornblower" "The Iron Mistress" "The Prouder Ones" and so for, holder of a stunning beauty and slim, also a female fatale in several roles, here in "The Pearls of the South Pacific" a B-movie from RKO, such low budges picture with a secondary casting make some damages at his image as a movie of a sole star.

In adventures at South Seas the greedy and gorgeous Rita (Virginia Mayo) enters in a searching for an uncharted Polynesian island that has a valuable black pearls with two rough sailors the reliable Dan Merrill (Dennis Morgan) and the bleak Bully Hague (David Farrar) that she has romantic triangle affair ongoing, in the island a white old man Taun Michael (Basil Ruysdael) that became the high priest of this Polynesian natives who used to worship a Moai stone statue of the God Tagaloa his white son George (Lance Fuller) will marry a local native Momu (Lisa Montel) halted by the arrival of a small ship of the strangers, Taun Michael rejects any engagement with white people point out they bring diseases and downfall letting the group corned, thus Rita introduces herself as Christian Missionary that coming in peace, the distrustful high priest just allowed Rita drop off and delivery some supplies to they can go away soon as can.

On the island Rita enchants the naïve George aiming for to pinpoint where the black pearls coming from, the duped guy ends up yielding to the temptation displaying a lagoon where the black pearls are hidden, nonetheless a giant octopus is lurking underneath on the clean waters, meanwhile Taun had a stroke laying down at bed with Rita taking care him, afterwards Dan and Bully inebriates George and some natives, sadly after Bully got the black pearls stab George letting him agonizing near death, on the temple all natives are invites to they departure in a celebration watered by alcohol, then appears the Chief Halemano (Murvyn Vye) with the George body almost dead asking for a sacrifice to placate the wrath of God Tagaloa, the chosen is the blonde Rita.

Enjoyable picture for those afternoon matinee, where Virginia Mayo gracefully exposes her sexy legs, an exotic adventure at south seas with strong similitude of "Reap the Wild Wind" with octopus at lagoon, has many elements to enjoy adventure seekers like me, a slight underrated indeed!!

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First watch: 2023 / How many: 1 / Source: Youtube / Rating: 6.5.

You can't make a bad looking movie in Hawaii and the scenic Hawaiian locations are the main thing that Pearl Of The South Pacific has going for it. Otherwise this is a rather desultory, but somewhat campy drama about two adventurers and a bad girl in the South Pacific looking to grab off a cache of black pearls on a beautiful tropical island in the South Pacific.

Said island is run by Basil Ruysdael who cornered the missionary trade years ago and now he's worshiped as a white god. At his command the natives are ready to turn the white guys schooner away. But then Virginia Mayo appears on deck and she announces she's a missionary. Since the natives have never seen a blonde before they have to let them land. Soon afterward Mayo discards her 19th century garb, corsets and all, and borrows one of Dorothy Lamour's sarongs from Paramount. New kind of hip missionary. The chief Murvyn Vye's son Lance Fuller is most taken with Mayo.

The only other thing is that Mayo's partners Dennis Morgan and David Farrar fall out as well.

This could have been a great satire on all those South Seas adventure films if the producer Benedict Bogeaus and director Allan Dwan had recognized it.

Still on that level it's enjoyable.

PEARL OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC is your usual Pacific island adventure yarn from the mid-1950s. It was directed by stalwart Canadian Allan Dwan, who had previously made SANDS OF IWO JIMA so had some idea about making films set in that part of the world. Indeed, Dwan's brisk and efficient direction is the best thing about this otherwise undistinguished movie.

The plot sees a trio of Americans masquerading as missionaries when in reality they're fortune-seekers looking for a hidden treasure of black pearls. First and foremost of these is blonde starlet Virginia Mayo, who the cameraman seems to be in love with; most of the focus is on her and her alone as she wears a succession of skimpy outfits and appears to be little more than a clothes horse at times. Mayo more than holds her own amid a largely undistinguished cast.

There's a little plot and a little intrigue with the locals although hardly anything in the way of real action. The usual dodgy ethics of the era abound, particularly in the depiction of backwards islanders who are Americans browned up with liberal fake sun tan. At least the Hawaiian locations give this an authentic look. The best part of the film is the inclusion of a real giant squid that also showed up in Ed Wood's BRIDE OF THE MONSTER.

South Seas silliness mostly shot on obvious sets but it is colorful and mindless so if you are in an undemanding mood this will fill the bill although they really should have found a reason for Dennis Morgan to sing. Virginia Mayo was a good actress whose career was unfortunately strewn with this kind of junk, either she was at the wrong studio which didn't know how to cast her or she just took whatever came along because excepting The Best Years of Our Lives and White Heat her films are almost all forgettable. Lance Fuller provides a great deal of eye candy throughout as a South Seas islander oddly named George. The kind of picture churned out by the studios for the lower half of a double bill.