The Tuttles of Tahiti *** (1942, Charles Laughton, Jon Hall, Peggy Drake, Victor Francen, Florence Bates, Gene Reynolds, Curt Bois) – Classic Movie Review 6812

Director Charles Vidor’s pleasant, entertaining 1942 old-style South Seas island saga The Tuttles of Tahiti is based on a novel by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, the authors of Mutiny on the Bounty, with Charles Laughton (Captain Bligh in the 1935 film) starring again, this time as lovable patriarch Jonas Tuttle, a man with one thing on his mind, taking life as easy as on a Sunday morning.

The comedy is a bit too easy-going and talky, borderline slack, although there is a pleasing atmosphere, Laughton is charming, Florence Bates is an impressive scene-stealer as Emily and the film is attractively directed.

Co-star Jon Hall is pretty spirited as Chester Tuttle, the nephew of old Jonas, who returns to Tahiti and bails out the family when the old man loses all their fortune in a bet. Peggy Drake as Tamara, Victor Francen as Dr Blondin, Gene Reynolds as Ru, and Curt Bois as Jensen also star.

Also in the cast are Adeline De Walt Reynolds, Mala, Leonard Sues, Jody Gilbert, Tommy Cook, Jack Carr, Jimmy Ames, Ernie Adams, James P Spencer, Alma Ross, Teddy Infuhr, Nellie Duran and Byron Foulger.

The Tuttles of Tahiti is directed by Charles Vidor, runs 91 minutes, is released by RKO, is written by S Lewis Meltzer, Robert Carson (screenplay) and James Hilton (adaptation), based on the novel No More Gas by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, shot in black and white by Nicholas Musuraca, produced by Sol Lesser, scored by Roy Webb, and designed by Albert S D’Agostino and Carroll Clark.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 6812

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