Fri 18 Aug 2017
Movie Review: HURRICANE SMITH (1952).
Posted by Steve under Action Adventure movies , Reviews[9] Comments
HURRICANE SMITH. Paramount Pictures, 1952. Yvonne De Carlo, John Ireland, James Craig, Forrest Tucker, Lyle Bettger, Richard Arlen. Screenplay by Frank Gruber, based on the novel Hurricane Williams by Gordon Ray Young (1922).
Yvonne De Carlo was a special kind of beauty, the kind that turns men’s minds to mush. (If not lust.) She is the only woman in this movie, and when she wears a low-cut of-the-shoulder blouse, there is very little mystery as to what keeps it up.
And watching her stay inside her clothes provides for about 95% of the suspense involved. This sailing adventure of the South Seas is filled with slavers, sharks, mutineers, and a fortune in buried gold, but of actual story, there is very little.
Editorial Update: Of the book this movie is said to be based on, I have not been able to find an actual copy for sale, only several Print on Demand versions. Hurricane Williams appeared in several short stories and serialized novels in the pulp magazine Adventure between 1918 and 1931, but none with this specific title.
August 18th, 2017 at 7:33 pm
I saw Hurricane Smith at the cinema the years of its release, and even at that time never thought it powerful in any way, but it still resonates, and not for Yvonne De Carlo, just the pure adventure.
August 18th, 2017 at 8:58 pm
I don’t remember this one, but as I was typing up this old review, I saw the cast, and I wondered if I’d made a mistake in what I said about it.
The movie doesn’t seem to have ever had an official release, but one of my usual sources has copies on DVD.
August 18th, 2017 at 7:51 pm
“A fortune in buried golf”? Stolen balls, drivers, nine-irons, putters, old Tiger Woods memorabilia? Great typo, Steve!
August 18th, 2017 at 8:06 pm
Sometimes my typing finger gets inspired. I’ll fix that but it deserves to stay there a while.
August 19th, 2017 at 11:16 am
Repair work done!
August 18th, 2017 at 10:50 pm
At Pulpfest a couple weeks ago Tom Krabacher and I were on a panel that discussed the Don Everhard series by Gordon Young. Our conclusion was that the Hurricane Williams stories were better.
August 19th, 2017 at 8:01 am
Saw this hacked to death in B&W years ago, and always wondered what it was about. Now I know it’s about Yvonne De Carlo.
August 20th, 2017 at 10:27 pm
You can download the book for free at Internet Archive.
August 21st, 2017 at 9:45 pm
Yvonne in that outfit is a special effect in and of itself.