Bird Of Paradise

1092.BIRD Of PARADISE (1932-USA). With DOLORES DEL RIO, JOEL McCREA. Directed by KING VJDOR, music by MAX STEINER. An exotic south seas tale Of a young adventurer, Johnny Baker (McCrea), who takes leave Of his shipmates to vacation on a tropical island. Seeing the beautiful Luana, (del Rio), daughter Of the island chief, who can blame the boy for his youthful lark! What begins as a carefree romp among the coconut trees turns into a tempestuous love story. Regrettably, Johnny has chosen to go native with the wrong girl, for Luana is betrothed to Pele, the volcano god. Fighting fate, he kidnaps Luana, and they retreat to an isolated island where the lovers live as children Of nature. He shimmies up coconut trees and she learns English phrases. But destiny calls. The volÂcano erupts and spews hot molten lava over her people’s island. Luana must respond to their call for help. If she refuses to be sacrificed, the curse Of Pele will be on her, the tribe, and Johnny, Bird Of Paradise is an action-packed film from start to finish. It features an underwater sequence in which Luana saves Johnny from a killer shark. There are tribal ceremonials with hypnotic drums and chants and seductive hula dancing by the savage princess Luana, which caused a stir when the film first appeared on theater screens. One Of the finest sequences is the climax as the island is flooded with lava and the lovers are about to be burned at the stake as a double sacrifice, to a more tender but memorable moment, on board Johnny’s ship, a fever-stricken Johnny cries out for water. Desperate to help him, Luana bites into an orange, sucks the juice and then kisses her lover’s lips. Many South Seas romances have been brought to the screen, but Bird Of Paradise is the granddaddy Of them all, the most exciting tropical adventure ever filmed! Recommended. 82 minutes. Adventure.