''South of Pago Pago'' is a 1940 American

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'', ...

adventure film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring

Victor McLaglen Victor Andrew de Bier Everleigh McLaglen (10 December 1886 – 7 November 1959) was a British boxer-turned-Hollywood actor.Obituary ''Variety'', 11 November 1959, page 79. He was known as a character actor, particularly in Westerns, and made sev ...

, Jon Hall and Frances Farmer.

Premise

In 1875 a group of adventurers meet in Singapore to look for pearls in the Pacific Islands: ship's Captain Bucko Larson, his First Mate Williams, Peg Legged Foster and

bar girl A bargirl is a woman who is paid to entertain patrons in a bar, either individually or, in some cases, as a performer. The exact nature of the entertainment varies widely from place to place; depending on the venue this can be individual enterta ...

and adventuress Ruby Taylor. They are guided by a Portuguese sailor Manuel Ferro who knows of virgin pearl beds off the island of Manoa, "south of Pago Pago". They arrive at the island, however when Ferro wants more than his agreed third of a share, Bucko throws him over the side to his doom. Passing out gifts, the amiable Bucko recruits the native divers to obtain pearls. When there are not many suitable pearls in the shallow waters, Bucko directs the divers to dangerous waters that cause death and severe injuries through

decompression sickness Decompression sickness (abbreviated DCS; also called divers' disease, the bends, aerobullosis, and caisson disease) is a medical condition caused by dissolved gases emerging from solution as bubbles inside the body tissues during decompressio ...

. He his initial success in getting them to continue their diving by providing them more gifts and alcoholic beverages, but Kehane, the chief's son place a

taboo A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

on any more deep water diving. Ruby is desired by Kehane, so Bucko uses her to marry Kehane where they leave the island for a honeymoon enabling Bucko to force the divers into more dangerous work at gunpoint for Bucko's profit. Ruby genuinely falls for Kehane and has a crisis of conscience.

Cast

Jon Hall and Frances Farmer in 'South of Pago Pago'

Production

Development

Producer Edward Small announced the project in 1938 with the stars to be Jon Hall and

Sigrid Gurie Sigrid Gurie (born Sigrid Guri Haukelid; May 18, 1911 – August 14, 1969) was an American actress from the late 1930s to early 1940s. Early life Gurie was born in Brooklyn, New York. Her father was a civil engineer who worked for the N ...

, both of whom would be borrowed from Sam Goldwyn. Small had a deal with United Artists. Howard Emmett Rogers was working on the script. In August 1938 Small sent a unit under John Burch to film in second unit footage in

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internationa ...

. In March 1939 Small announced the film as part of his $5 million seven-film program for 1939–40. (The other movies would be ''

Kit Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and ...

'', ''

Two Years Before the Mast ''Two Years Before the Mast'' is a memoir by the American author Richard Henry Dana Jr., published in 1840, having been written after a two-year sea voyage from Boston to California on a merchant ship starting in 1834. A film adaptation under the ...

'', '' Valentino'', ''Quantrill'', ''

My Son, My Son "My Son, My Son" is a traditional popular music song written by Gordon Melville Rees, Bob Howard and Eddie Calvert in 1954. A recording of the song by Vera Lynn reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in November that year. It was Lynn's ...

'' and '' Food of the Gods''. Small would end up only making a few of these.) For a time it seemed

Clayton Moore Clayton Moore (born Jack Carlton Moore, September 14, 1914 – December 28, 1999) was an American actor best known for playing the fictional western character the Lone Ranger from 1949 to 1952 and 1953 to 1957 on the television series of the sa ...

might be cast instead of Hall. Filming was to begin on 1 September 1939. Tom Neal and Diane Lewis joined the cast. Filming was pushed back to 15 September so Small could borrow director Charles Vidor from Columbia. Eventually Small decided to put Vidor on ''My Son, My Son'' instead, feeling he was better suited to that. In February 1940 Victor McLaglen was signed to costar alongside

and Alfred Werker was signed to direct. Moore did not appear in the final film. Small borrowed Frances Farmer to play the female lead; Farmer had been fighting with Paramount over roles and it was reported that this would be her last film under her Paramount contract.

Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined th ...

was discussed for the role of the lead native girl. Olympe Bradne ended up playing it.

Shooting

Filming eventually began 26 March 1940. Locations included

Balboa Island, Newport Beach Balboa Island is a harborside community in Newport Beach, California, accessible to the public via bridge, ferry and several public docks. The community is surrounded by a paved concrete boardwalk open to pedestrian traffic, designated as a ...

with underwater scenes shot at Santa Catalina. On 3 April it was reported that Werker had "retired as director" after an "argument over the script." He was replaced by Alfred E. Green. Green had directed Farmer in her last film, ''

Ride a Crooked Mile ''Ride a Crooked Mile'' is a 1938 American Western film directed by Alfred E. Green and written by Jack Moffitt and Ferdinand Reyher. The film stars Akim Tamiroff, Leif Erickson, Frances Farmer, Lynne Overman, John Miljan and J. M. Kerrigan. ...

'' and described her as a "different girl" on this one. After completion of the film, Hall immediately went into ''Kit Carson'' for Small.

Reception

Reviews were poor. The ''New York Times'' listed it as among the worst films of the year.

References

External links

* * {{Alfred E. Green 1940 films 1940s historical adventure films United Artists films American black-and-white films Films set in Oceania Films directed by Alfred E. Green Films produced by Edward Small Films set in 1875 American historical adventure films Films scored by Edward Ward (composer) 1940s English-language films 1940s American films