''The Tuttles of Tahiti'' is a 1942 American

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

romance film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typica ...

directed by

Charles Vidor Charles Vidor (born Károly Vidor; July 27, 1900June 4, 1959) was a Hungarian film director. Among his film successes are ''The Bridge'' (1929), '' The Tuttles of Tahiti'' (1942), '' The Desperadoes'' (1943), '' Cover Girl'' (1944), '' Togeth ...

and starring

Charles Laughton Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future ...

and Jon Hall. It was based on the novel ''No More Gas'' by James Norman Hall and

Charles Nordhoff Charles Bernard Nordhoff (February 1, 1887 – April 10, 1947) was an American novelist and traveler, born in England. Nordhoff is perhaps best known for '' The Bounty Trilogy'', three historical novels he wrote with James Norman Hall: ''Mutiny ...

Plot

When merchant sailor Chester Tuttle ( Jon Hall) returns home to

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

after several years away, his family, headed by Jonas Tuttle (

), welcomes him with open arms. The Tuttles are a happy-go-lucky bunch who give little thought to the future and do as little work as necessary. Jonas often gets loans, which he never gets around to paying back, from Dr. Blondin (

Victor Francen Victor Francen (born Victor Franssens, 5 August 1888 – 18 November 1977) was a Belgian-born actor with a long career in French cinema and in Hollywood. Biography Francen was born in 1888 in Tienen, the son of a chief of police. According ...

). Chester has brought with him a fighting rooster for Jonas's

cockfight A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years. The first documented use of the ''word'' gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or ent ...

with the more industrious and prosperous Emily (

Florence Bates Florence Bates ( Rabe; April 15, 1888 - January 31, 1954), was an American film and stage character actress who often played grande dame characters in supporting roles. Life and career Bates was the second child born to Jewish immigrant par ...

). Shrewd businessman Jensen (

Curt Bois Curt Bois (born Kurt Boas; April 5, 1901 – December 25, 1991) was a German actor with a career spanning over 80 years. He is best remembered for his performances as the pickpocket in ''Casablanca'' (1942) and the poet Homer in ''Wings of Desi ...

) persuades the doctor to transfer Jonas's debt to him. Jonas is so sure that Chester's

rooster The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

will win that he willingly signs a

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any ...

for the rundown family mansion and bets everything on the outcome. However, the bird turns out be a coward and flees the ring without a fight. Chester notices that Emily's daughter Tamara (

Peggy Drake Peggy Drake (6 October 1922 – 19 September 2014), was an Austrian born American film and television actress. She primarily appeared in B-movies of the 1940s. Career Born Lieselotte Mayer in Vienna, Austria, she moved to the United Stat ...

) has grown into a beautiful young woman, but the young lovers realize that Emily will never sanction Tamara's marriage to a penniless wastrel. To raise the mortgage payment, Chester, his brothers and nephew go fishing on their boat. When a storm comes up, they are presumed lost. However, not only are they safe, they find an abandoned ship. They bring it in, and under salvage laws, they are now its owners. Jensen buys it and its cargo for 400,000 francs, an enormous sum. Ignoring Emily's advice to invest the money, Jonas deposits it in a joint checking account, withdraws just enough to pay back Dr. Blondin, and gives checkbooks to everyone in the family. With their new wealth, Chester is able to marry Tamara. However, creditors descend on Jonas, and the spendthrift Tuttles soon spend the rest of their money very quickly. When Jensen comes to collect the mortgage, Jonas cannot find the money he had saved for Blondin, and Jensen takes possession of the mansion. While chasing Chester's rooster, he finds the misplaced money and triumphantly gives it to Blondin, saving the Tuttle home. In the end, Blondin gives Jonas a new loan to buy gas for the fishing boat.

Cast

as Jonas Tuttle * Jon Hall as Chester Tuttle *

as Tamara *

as Dr. Blondin *

Gene Reynolds Eugene Reynolds Blumenthal (April 4, 1923 – February 3, 2020) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, and actor. He was one of the developers and producers of the TV series ''M*A*S*H''. Early life Reynolds was born on April 4, 1923, ...

as Ru Tuttle, Jonas's grandson *

as Emily *

as Jensen * Adeline De Walt Reynolds as Mama Ruau, Jonas's mother *

Ray Mala Ray Mala (born Ray Agnaqsiaq Wise, also known as Ach-nach-chiak ( Iñupiaq othography: ''Aġnatchiaq''); December 27, 1906 – September 23, 1952) was a prominent Native American Hollywood actor. He was one of Hollywood's Native American m ...

as Nat

Reception

The film recorded a loss of $170,000.Richard B. Jewell, '' RKO Radio Pictures: A Titan Is Born'', University of California 2012 p 252

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuttles Of Tahiti, The 1942 films 1942 comedy films RKO Pictures films American comedy films American black-and-white films Films scored by Roy Webb Films directed by Charles Vidor Films set in French Polynesia Tahitian culture Films produced by Sol Lesser Films based on American novels 1940s American films