Pluskylang
Great Film overall
Usamah Harvey
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
Janis
One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
Rainey Dawn
A very beautiful & romantic film. It's about a lovely native woman named Luana (Dolores del Rio) and the man that falls in-love with her, Johnny Baker (Joel McCrea). Luana is chosen by the other island natives to be sacrificed to the volcano. This is a story we've all heard of by now but this might be the first film on the subject matter. I discovered this film via Creighton Chaney. I was looking to watch a film from him that I have yet to see. He's not in this one very much, his character Thornton is more of a supporting role, but he did not have to be in this film for me to enjoy it. I'm glad to discover it because it's a wonderful story. 8/10
classicsoncall
Quite honestly, until I started reading some of the other reviews here I never gave it a second thought that Dolores del Rio's early swim scene might have been done in the nude. It just didn't strike me that way. There were other scenes in the picture between Johnny (Joel McCrea) and Luana that seemed much more suggestive and erotic, as when they traded splashes of coconut milk on the beach. The principals were certainly well cast for their athleticism and sex appeal, and I'd be curious to have been a movie goer back in the day to experience a first hand reaction to the events portrayed on screen.One scene that caught my attention occurred between Johnny and the overweight native woman when at one point, Johnny fashions a makeshift slide out of a large palm frond and they both slide down a steep embankment. I thought that was pretty original when I saw Michael Dougas and Kathleen Turner do it in "Romancing the Stone", but here director Vidor came up with it a half century earlier. For me at least, that was a sit up and take notice moment.Storywise, the effort is almost stereotypical; a young virginal maiden is destined to be sacrificed to the island gods until a captivating young hero attempts to whisk her away for a life of tranquility. The concept seems romantic, but then I thought about how I'd spend day after day on a remote island in the Pacific every day for the rest of my life and then it didn't seem so ideal. OK, Dolores del Rio may have been part of the equation, but seriously, the routine would at some point overwhelm one with severe boredom.For 1932 and straight out of the silent era, this one had some fine moments and innovative action sequences like the shark attack, Johnny's battle in the whirlpool and of course, the erupting volcano. The flying fish celebration was certainly something I'd never seen before. It all resolves to poignancy with the closing scene when Luana takes her leave of a dying Johnny to fulfill her destiny as a sacrifice to the gods.
bkoganbing
This was a scandalous picture for 1932, an interracial romance with a nude Dolores Del Rio. Bird of Paradise has Del Rio as the daughter of the chief of a South Sea Island where a schooner lands that has Joel McCrea in the crew. McCrea has left the Depression ridden USA behind and now wants to stay on the island. He's decided to see if all the stories are true about the hedonistic natives. What he doesn't bargain for is falling for Del Rio. But she being the daughter of the head guy is spoken for. Nevertheless they elope in a manner of speaking and start kanoodling on another island. You can see why this film was such a big hit that year. With so many young men out of work, who wouldn't want to take off to the South Seas as Joel McCrea did? I say young men because women for the most part were not considered part of the work force.I think the problem later on with this film after the Code came in was not the alleged nudity, you can't tell in any event. Both McCrea and Del Rio spend a lot of time in various stages of undress. Nor is it the interracial romance, Dorothy Lamour later carried on with a lot of anglo visitors in the South Seas with the Code in place. I think the real problem is that the film in its way respects the animist traditions of the native religion. They worship the volcano on that island and no missionaries are around to tell them different. After 1935 you would NEVER see Del Rio making ready to throw herself in the volcano to save her man and his friends. And this is in fact accepted. I'm sure Joel must have wished the missionaries had been there and had converted the natives.Bird of Paradise is dated, but still moderately entertaining.
sbibb1
This film is a good example of Pre-Code Hollywood Essentially the story of a sailor who falls in love with a native girl, this film has numerous examples of how Hollywood flourished before the production code set in some 3 years later. In most of the film Dolores Del Rio runs around in a straw skirt with nothing but a lei covering her breasts. In scenes where she is swimming, she appears to be totally nude with just some distortion in the water keeping us from seeing her totally naked. Also co-star Joel McCrea spends a good deal of the film walking around in his bathing suit.The love scenes between McCrea and Del Rio vary. The first time it looks like rape, and Del Rio looks like she is visibly in pain. 3 years later the production code would not permit a white man to wed or be romantically involved with anyone but a white woman.Among the crew of the ship is Richard "Skeets" Gallagher, who plays a stereotypically gay role, along with another sailor on the ship.This film is now in the public domain and can frequently be found on television, and is available on DVD.
