It's obvious when the locals of this beautiful island in the middle of the Indian ocean are singing "Onward Christian Soldiers" while being conducted by missionary Glynis Johns, they're just either mimicking her or enjoying the bouncy melody. At any rate, they obviously have their own spirituality and the staid Johns can't teach them anything new about the God they look to for guidance in this beautiful paradise.
The uptight Johns needs to find a little night music of her own, and when someone sends in the clown Robert Newton to her, she'll have to take it with a dose of a spoonful of sugar. With new law enforcement on the island (led by Donald Sinden), the natives realize that their way of living is at stake, and the hard drinking Newton (banished to the island by his embarrassed British family) must come to her rescue, creating one of the screen's oddest romances.
This beautifully filmed second version of Somerset Maugham's "Vessel of Wrath" is much better in this viewer's opinion, having given the original a third (and final) chance to impress just weeks before. The story is nearly the same, but I appreciated the subtlety of this version. Newton, who played the Sinden role in the original, is far more likeable than Charles Laughton was, and Johns, in the Elsa Lancaster role, is far more balanced. The color photography only enhances the improvements.
The uptight Johns needs to find a little night music of her own, and when someone sends in the clown Robert Newton to her, she'll have to take it with a dose of a spoonful of sugar. With new law enforcement on the island (led by Donald Sinden), the natives realize that their way of living is at stake, and the hard drinking Newton (banished to the island by his embarrassed British family) must come to her rescue, creating one of the screen's oddest romances.
This beautifully filmed second version of Somerset Maugham's "Vessel of Wrath" is much better in this viewer's opinion, having given the original a third (and final) chance to impress just weeks before. The story is nearly the same, but I appreciated the subtlety of this version. Newton, who played the Sinden role in the original, is far more likeable than Charles Laughton was, and Johns, in the Elsa Lancaster role, is far more balanced. The color photography only enhances the improvements.