''Ebb Tide'' is a 1937 American

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films running through a special ...

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, ani ...

directed by James P. Hogan and starring

Oscar Homolka Oskar Homolka (August 12, 1898 – January 27, 1978) was an Austrian film and theatre actor, who went on to work in Germany, Britain and America. Both his voice and his appearance fitted him for roles as communist spies or Soviet officials, for w ...

Frances Farmer Frances Elena Farmer (September 19, 1913August 1, 1970) was an American actress and television hostess. She appeared in over a dozen feature films over the course of her career, though she garnered notoriety for sensationalized accounts of her l ...

and

Ray Milland Ray Milland (born Alfred Reginald Jones; 3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh-American actor and film director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985. He is remembered for his Academy Award and Cannes Film Festival Award-winning ...

. Much of the film is set in the

South Seas Today the term South Seas, or South Sea, is used in several contexts. Most commonly it refers to the portion of the Pacific Ocean south of the equator. In 1513, when Spanish conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa coined the term ''Mar del Sur'', ...

and is based on the 1894 novel ''

The Ebb-Tide ''The Ebb-Tide. A Trio and a Quartette'' (1894) is a short novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson and his stepson Lloyd Osbourne. It was published the year Stevenson died. Plot Three beggars operate in the port of Papeete on Tahiti. They are H ...

'' by

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

and his stepson Lloyd Osbourne. The novel was previously filmed as 1922 Paramount silent film ''

Ebb Tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ca ...

'', and it was filmed again in 1947 as '' Adventure Island'', produced by William H. Pine and William C. Thomas.

Plot

In 1890, three Westerners stranded on a tropical island in the South Pacific get an offer to captain a cargo boat.

Cast

as Capt. Thorbecke *

as Faith Wishart *

as Robert Herrick *

Lloyd Nolan Lloyd Benedict Nolan (August 11, 1902 – September 27, 1985) was an American film and television actor. Among his many roles, Nolan is remembered for originating the role of private investigator Michael Shayne in a series of 1940s B movies. Bi ...

as Attwater *

Barry Fitzgerald William Joseph Shields (10 March 1888 – 14 January 1961), known professionally as Barry Fitzgerald, was an Irish stage, film and television actor. In a career spanning almost forty years, he appeared in such notable films as ''Bringing Up Ba ...

as Huish *

Charles Judels Charles Judels (August 17, 1882 - February 14, 1969) was a Dutch-born American actor. Early years Judels was born on August 17, 1882, in Amsterdam as a third generation in a family of actors. His grandfather owned several theatres throughout th ...

as Port doctor * Charles Stevens as Uncle Ned * David Torrence as Tapena Tom *

Lina Basquette Lina Basquette (born Lena Copeland Baskette; April 19, 1907 – September 30, 1994) was an American actress. She is noted for her 75-year career in entertainment, which began during the silent film era. Talented as a dancer, she was paid as a gi ...

as Attwater's servant *Harry Field as Taniera

Production

Paramount had previously filmed the story in 1922. In March 1937 they announced they would film the story again under the title of ''With the Tide'' starring Frances Farmer, and produced by Lucien Hubbard. Lloyd Osborne was writing the script and Hubbard wanted

Henry Hathaway Henry Hathaway (March 13, 1898 – February 11, 1985) was an American film director and producer. He is best known as a director of Westerns, especially starring Randolph Scott and John Wayne. He directed Gary Cooper in seven films. Backgroun ...

to direct. Paramount were going to make the film as one of its two color movies for the season. By April Paramount had decided to revert to the story's original title and

had joined the cast with Hathaway to direct. Then

, at the time best known for playing a role in '' Rhodes of Africa'', signed a four-year contract with Paramount and was given a lead role in ''Ebb Tide''. Barry Fitzgerald and Lloyd Nolan rounded out the main cast. Henry Hathaway was delayed on shooting ''

Souls at Sea ''Souls at Sea'' is a 1937 American adventure film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Gary Cooper and George Raft. Based on a story by Ted Lesser, the film is about a first mate on a slave ship who frees the slaves on the ship after a mutiny ...

'' so he was replaced as director by James Hogan. Filming started June 1937. Island scenes were shot at a specially-constructed village on Catalina Island. Over one hundred Polynesians were used. The film was shot in color at a time when that was rare. Paramount took up Farmer's option after she made the film.

References

External links

* *
southseascinema.org
{{James P. Hogan 1937 films 1930s adventure drama films 1930s color films American adventure drama films 1930s English-language films Films scored by Victor Young Films set in Oceania Films directed by James Patrick Hogan Films based on British novels Films based on works by Robert Louis Stevenson Paramount Pictures films Films set on islands 1937 drama films 1930s American films