Cory Osceola (front) and Nicholas Ray during the filming of

Chana Eden and Emmett Kelly on the set of

''Wind Across the Everglades'' is a 1958 film directed by

Nicholas Ray Nicholas Ray (born Raymond Nicholas Kienzle Jr., August 7, 1911 – June 16, 1979) was an American film director, screenwriter, and actor best known for the 1955 film '' Rebel Without a Cause.'' He is appreciated for many narrative features p ...

. Ray was fired from the film before production was finished, and several scenes were completed by screenwriter

Budd Schulberg Budd Schulberg (born Seymour Wilson Schulberg, March 27, 1914 – August 5, 2009) was an American screenwriter, television producer, novelist and sports writer. He was known for his novels '' What Makes Sammy Run?'' and ''The Harder They Fall;'' ...

, who also supervised the editing. Chris Fujiwara wrote on Turner Classic Movies that the film is "an acid test for auteurists, one of those special films that, while ignored or despised for the most part, are cherished and fiercely defended by those who love great American directors." The film stars

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American musician, actor, and author with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his own rad ...

, features

Christopher Plummer Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage, and television. He received multiple accolades, inc ...

in his first lead role (and his second film role overall) and introduces

Chana Eden Chana Eden ( he, חנה עדן; November 23, 1932 – March 30, 2019) was an Israeli-American actress and singer. After her debut in the 1958 film '' Wind Across the Everglades'', Eden appeared in guest roles in many American television serie ...

, who plays the leading lady, and Peter Falk, who plays a minor role. Former stripper Gypsy Rose Lee and circus clown

Emmett Kelly Emmett Leo Kelly (December 9, 1898March 28, 1979) was an American circus performer, who created the clown figure "Weary Willie," based on the hobos of the Great Depression in the 1930s. According to Charles W. Carey, Jr.: :Kelly’s creation of ...

also are among those in an unusual cast. It was filmed on location in

Everglades National Park Everglades National Park is an American national park that protects the southern twenty percent of the original Everglades in Florida. The park is the largest tropical wilderness in the United States and the largest wilderness of any kind east ...

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, 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 ...

Plot

Set in the early 20th century, the film follows a

game warden A conservation officer is a law enforcement officer who protects wildlife and the environment. A conservation officer may also be referred to as an environmental technician or technologist, game warden, forest ranger, forest watcher, forest g ...

who arrives in Florida in the hopes of enforcing conservation laws. He soon finds himself pitted against Cottonmouth, the leader of a fierce group of bird

poachers Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...

. The film is loosely based upon the life and death of

Guy Bradley Guy Morrell Bradley (April 25, 1870 – July 8, 1905) was an American game warden and deputy sheriff for Monroe County, Florida. Born in Chicago, Illinois, he relocated to Florida with his family when he was young. As a boy, he often s ...

, an early game warden who in 1905 was shot and killed by

plume hunter Plume hunting is the hunting of wild birds to harvest their feathers, especially the more decorative plume (feather), plumes which were sold for use as ornamentation, such as aigrettes in hatmaking, millinery. The movement against the plume tra ...

s in the Everglades.Wilbanks, William. ''Forgotten Heroes: Police Officers Killed in Early Florida, 1840–1925''. Paducah, KY: Turner Pub. Co., 1998. pg. 83.

Cast

as Cottonmouth *

as Walt Murdock * Gypsy Rose Lee as Mrs. Bradford *

George Voskovec Jiří Voskovec (), born Jiří Wachsmann and known in the United States as George Voskovec (June 19, 1905 – July 1, 1981) was a Czech actor, writer, dramatist, and director who became an American citizen in 1955. Throughout much of his career ...

as Aaron Nathanson * Tony Galento as Beef * Howard I. Smith as George Liggett *

as Bigamy Bob * Pat Henning as Sawdust *

as Naomi Nathanson *

Curt Conway Curt Conway (May 4, 1915 – April 10, 1974) was an American actor. He was sometimes billed as Curtis Conway or Kurt Conway. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Conway appeared in a number of Broadway plays, had small parts in films. such as '' Hud' ...

as Perfessor * Peter Falk as Writer * Fred Grossinger as Slowboy * Sammy Renick as Loser * Toch Brown as One-note * Frank Rothe as Howard Ross Morgan *

MacKinlay Kantor MacKinlay Kantor (February 4, 1904 – October 11, 1977), born Benjamin McKinlay Kantor, was an American journalist, novelist and screenwriter. He wrote more than 30 novels, several set during the American Civil War, and was awarded th ...

as Judge Harris * Cory Osceola as Billy One-Arm

Critical reputation

Due to Ray's having been fired from the production before the film was completed, ''Wind Across the Everglades'' holds a contentious place in film scholarship. In a short review of the film, critic

Jonathan Rosenbaum Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for ''The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008, when he retired. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has ...

described it as "a kind of litmus test for auteurists".Chicago Reader: Wind Across the Everglades
/ref> After citing the film's editorial history, Rosenbaum goes on to say that "Ray's masterful use of color and mystical sense of equality between the antagonists (also evident in ''

Rebel Without a Cause ''Rebel Without a Cause'' is a 1955 American coming-of-age drama film about emotionally confused suburban, middle-class teenagers. Filmed in the then recently introduced CinemaScope format and directed by Nicholas Ray, it offered both social com ...

'' and '' Bitter Victory'') are made all the more piquant here by his feeling for folklore and outlaw ethics as well as his cadenced '' mise en scene''." While it was praised for its ahead-of-its-time ecological themes and authentic and unusual scenery, the film still suffered from "editorial hacking and post-production cheapness" leading to an overall effect of "one of those production disasters that bleeds brilliance in all directions."

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wind Across The Everglades 1958 films 1958 drama films American drama films 1950s English-language films Films directed by Nicholas Ray Films set in Florida Films set in the 1900s Films shot in Florida Films about hunters Films scored by Paul Sawtell Films with screenplays by Budd Schulberg Warner Bros. films 1950s American films Everglades

Plot

Cast

Critical reputation

See also

References

External links