carvalheiro "Bird of paradise" (1932) directed by King Vidor represents an anthropological islet in his extensive cinematographer kind of a tree is a tree free speech about species, yet in a second class civilization for South sea adventure. Whose main characters of a sailor and a local flower power, before its female expansion isn't enough for the intriguing father from the clan. This is old green valley in present times, but with an enchantment that for us is still with an accented galvanization for marriage between cultures and how being careful with prejudice, trade and palms like in the time of Cook travel, linked with affection for the nature and brigandage. The geography of this well populated island it is the main fortified part of this exotic story and the plot works with a sense of orientation from the main characters. Being pursued by a group of natives at the orders of the chief, whilst the other small group is composed by the adventurer, the lover girl - daughter of the chief - and their supporters. This is why this movie is astonishingly new for the age it must have now since the time that it was made, as almost like a special one artisan's outfit of the patronized conception of the innovative studios production. Even the eroticism of some scenes with the naked shoulders of the girl, it were very unusual and as fresh current of open air from the concealed forests of the island, near the sands of the shores with palms and beaches, as rarely we could see at the time of mingled forced marriages. Well, Vidor put the finger on the incomprehension and gives us some speed and strength, as dramatic lightening for communication between peoples before electrification, when things were still for the worst after the debacle of illusions. One of the scenes that touch me is when the communication is difficult, because the separate languages and for explaining how it works on a given plan it was by signs, like pictorial symbols at the age of caverns and tattoos, what get feelings between inhabitants and the maritime foreigner in spite of a potential love affair, that took the island in fire and tears, if the good mind and presence of spirit facing differences was not in the right place, as it were by the story among main characters, such in this scene of transition. This is the kind of narrative that shows us the boundaries of forced integration and it seems, even now, the immense complex problem that at the time was the idea of a savage with bow and arrow pointed to a civilized man, half naked on the ground in a warrior ritual, with a local tribe crying against the intrusion of this human kind in their closed rules. Perturbing the primitive life there without any ceremony and knowing nothing about why he was caught, in his own trap of curiosity and observation of that recurred society of consumption, where flesh it was good enough for its smell on the fire by night, as sacrifice calming the volcano eruption, watched from not far away over the night during this cannibalistic ritual, simulating an exchange in such a disconnected mentalities. Director King Vidor makes it by generosity of a new dramatic standing, for showing here boundaries in the spirit of hunters. When things are reversed on the habitat of such a melodic structure, about the childhood of common humanity, in a talkie movie that roars well with choreography of such a dance with naked feet, learning the virtues of housing above water.

majestikmoose9 For a movie that seemed to have quite a bit of potential, I honestly just couldn't get into this one. The acting was second-, if not third-rate at best, and there were too many odd plot holes and things done for absolutely no reason. For instance, the scene in which Joel McCrea is carrying a pig... or the one which features him riding a turtle's back. The "humorous elements" in this film have nothing to do with humor at all, and the wasted love story between McCrea and del Rio is just boring to the extreme.This film could only be better if given a Mystery Science Theater 3000 treatment. As it is, it's rotten, rotten, rotten. It receives a generous rating of 2 because I have seen worse. But please: avoid this at all costs.

timothymcclenaghan While the plot of this film may seem trite to us today, it was fresh and original in 1932 when it was made. This may well have been the first "throw the girl into the volcano" movie. Considering the technical limitations of film-making in 1932, the photography and special effects are quite good: the whirlpool, the erupting volcano and the river of lava.Contradicting other postings to this website, I did not see a "rape" scene. What I saw was the male lead chase the female lead after she had been teasing him, then he wrestled her and pinned her down to introduce her to Western-style kissing. A rapist doesn't kiss his victim, and a rape victim would not want her attacker to continue kissing her.The action of the plot moves quickly and is never bogged down by the dialog. This is an entertaining film, which you could view as you would any antique: it's charming for the era in which it was created.

laursene Bird of Paradise must have been made to cash in on the success of Tabu, as well as the appetite the first of Weismuller's Tarzan movies stirred up for all things jungle (see Joel Macrea in a loincloth, swinging from tree to tree!). It's just as full of the era's embarrassing casual racism, in both dialog and the characterization of South Sea Island "natives." But King Vidor was the director, and together with his crew put together a beautiful visual piece that includes one fabulously erotic sequence. Toward the end [POSSIBLE SPOILER] Macrea's sailor is lying sick back in the ship's cabin. The chieftain's daughter (Del Rio) comes in and revives him by cupping her hands in water and letting it run into his mouth. In a VERY closeup shot, observe the quietly passionate expression on Del Rio's face. Just as he revives, she leaves the cabin to meet her fate.Hollywood wouldn't dare to infuse this much eroticism into an interracial relationship again for many years. Of course, the story here is pretty hackneyed: the "native" maiden's doomed discovery of love and her own otherness in the presence of the white man. But movies are about sight and sound, and such cliches become compelling when outstanding filmmakers are at work. In retrospect, it's easy to see why Del Rio fell out of favor after the Code came in: The Code was as much about race as about sex, and Del Rio's mere presence as a (light) brown-skinned woman in such a scenario was just too dubious, no matter how well-clothed she might be. Henceforth, we would get Dorothy Lamour in a sarong instead of the actress who Orson Welles called the most beautiful in the world. Back to Mexico she went.