malcolmgsw In reading all of the reviews scant attention seems to be given to Robert Newton.Maybe because this performance is typical of those he gave in the 1930s and 1940s before Long John silver got hold of him.The irony is that in real life he was far more like the character played by Charles Laughton.Indeed in just about any biography of any actor of that period ,sooner or later tipsily in to view comes Robert Newton.Unfortunately drink made him much the worse for wear,making producers unwilling to take the chance and ultimately shortening his life.I do wish somebody would write a biography of this fine actor who gives a quiet even underplayed performance in this film.

Cristi_Ciopron Well, I admit being an insatiable Laughton buff …. Laughton was a genuine giant, like the Frenchmen Simon and Baur.Laughton, his cute wife, the '30s, a Maugham adaptation—this should be the 4th Laughton movie I am reviewing, and the 2nd Maugham adaptation (--South Seas, missionaries, religious intolerance vs. dissolute life …--). Mean, ugly, fat, playful—I'm just stating the obvious—Laughton was an English Simon—the same abundant talent …. Also obvious is the degree to which he enjoyed playing his colorful roles ….THE BEACHCOMBER is a pretty remarkable movie, snappy and fresh, and leisurely made; Elsa Lanchester was 36 in this flick, she had married Laughton in '29—that is, 9 yrs earlier, when she was 27. Daddy Wells had written short movies for this babe.Elsa Lanchester does an interesting performance, if in a role limited.THE BEACHCOMBER is also genuine cinema—exciting, it has gusto and fun. As subject, it is a satire against puritanism. In a Pacific island, a womanizing drunk is hell-raising and causing scandal to the community. He attracts the antipathy of a couple of religious missionaries who ask for his deportation. Sentenced for 3 months on Agor island, he becomes the ruler of an earthly heaven, a ruler spoiled by the merry natives. Maugham frankly considered the Christianity to be a plague, and praised the sensual involvement of the South Seas natives.One of the missionaries is a miss; the climate and circumstances do much to moisture and soften her senses. She falls in love with the drunk.

theowinthrop Charles Laughton was usually a forceful figure of power in one way or another: Javert the police agent in LES MISERABLES, Captain William Bligh of H.M.S. Bounty, Earl Janoth in THE BIG CLOCK, King Henry VIII, King Herod. But occasionally he is a struggling figure, like the would be composer/conductor in TALES OF MANHATTAN.Here he is "Ginger Ted" Wilson, a hard-drinking drifter in the south seas. Currently he is residing (it is the 1930s) in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). Life is not too bad - he cadges money and never pays it back. He also is a close drinking pal of the local magistrate (Robert Newton, in a relatively quiet - but early - role). However, Ginger Ted has made two enemies. Like Sadie Thompson in RAIN (also a story of Somerset Maugham - the author here), Ted angers the local missionary, Dr. Jones (Tyrone Guthrie) and his spinster sister Martha (Elsa Lanchester) by corrupting one of their female charges. When the local constable (an elderly man) is injured, the missionaries force Newton to reluctantly punish Ted.Ted is exiled to a small island, supposedly at hard labor. Then Martha ends up on the island too, and she begins to take an interest in Ted - with a view of reforming him. Ted discovers he likes the spinster, but he is uncertain about a permanent relationship. They return to the main island again, only to find that there is an epidemic in the hinterland. The magistrate asks Ted to try to convince the natives to use medicine the missionaries have. Ted and Martha go, and face the dangers of a hostile and deadly native population together. And ironically they find a curious connection in their family histories that make their romantic connection permanent as well.VESSEL OF WRATH (also known as THE BEACHCOMBER) is a nice little film comedy, and the first time (after the "Anne of Cleves" scenes of HENRY VIII and the love scenes in REMBRANT) that Laughton and Lanchester got together. They balance nicely in their scenes, playing off each other like...well like a married couple (like they were). The film is also interesting as one of the few where Sir Tyrone Guthrie (better remembered as a British drama director and producer) had an acting role. He has a comic moment too, when hearing that his sister has been stuck with the "lascivious" Ted on a desert island, he all but collapses in fear for her virtue. Newton is under tight control in his role, angry at his friend Ted for giving him so many headaches in the local community, but still missing Ted for the fun they have together (and also regretting the fact that he's left with the boring Guthrie as the only other intelligent westerner around!). The four leads do very nicely here - and Laughton has an opportunity to do a run through for his later similar beachcomber role (though a family man) in THE TUTTLES OF TAHITI.Newton would return to the story later on. In the early 1950s he and Glynis Johns played Ted and Martha in a remake of VESSEL OF WRATH.

raskimono It is hard to watch this movie without noticing its similarities, intentional or not to the so-called American classic "The African Queen". I will have to say I enjoyed this movie more. The director whose credits state this as his only movie directs this 1930s movie as it were made in the sixties and seventies when the motif of camera movement became essential. Hand-held cameras are used to good effect. Charles Laughton who is the best film actor of the 20th Century shines again as he totally immerses himself in the part of the scalawag drunk. Elsa Lanchester, a woman with perfect demeanor and grace and wearing absolutely no make up shines as the woman whose aim is to tame the natives and tame the irascible Laughton. Good support from the cast round up this romantic drama. Bogart won an Oscar for doing a role very similar to this one, but Laughton is better. Catch it if you can. It's nice, smartly written, subtle and an English treat.