During the 1860s in the South Pacific, Capt. Ralls, skipper of the Red Witch, has a series of adventures involving sunken gold bullion, pearls, natives, an unscrupulous ship owner and a giant octopus.
Capt. Jim Gordon's command of the famed American mercenary fighter group in China is complicated by the recruitment of an old friend who is a reckless hotshot.
In 1818 Alabama, French settlers are pitted against greedy land-grabber Blake Randolph but Kentucky militiaman John Breen, who's smitten with French gal Fleurette De Marchand, comes to the settlers' aid.
A C-47 transport plane, named the Corsair, makes a forced landing in the frozen wastes of Labrador, and the plane's pilot, Captain Dooley, must keep his men alive in deadly conditions while waiting for rescue.
His ship seized by the Chinese Communists, American Merchant Captain Tom Wilder languishes in prison but Chinese villagers help him escape to sail them to Hong-Kong.
Quirt Evans, an all round bad guy, is nursed back to health and sought after by Penelope Worth, a Quaker girl. He eventually finds himself having to choose between his world and the world Penelope lives in.
When a commercial airliner develops engine problems on a trans-Pacific flight and the pilot loses his nerve, it is up to the washed-up co-pilot Dan Roman to bring the plane in safely.
Captain Ralls fights Dutch shipping magnate Mayrant Sidneye for the woman he loves, Angelique Desaix, and for a fortune in gold aboard the Red Witch.Written by
Jim Beaver <[email protected]>
When Capt Ralls explains to Capt Munsey how the Melbourne Queen exploded he says they were shipping dynamite. The story takes place in 1860-1861 but dynamite was not patented until 1867. See more »
I enjoy most John Wayne films, notably his Westerns, and a long time ago read several books about him, but Wake of the Red Watch was all but unknown to me. (British TV frequently screens his better-known films butI can't recall "Wake" being shown before.)
It wasn't at all bad, if one overlooks some of the clichés and limited production values, and Wayne portrays a character more complex and less sympathetic than in any other of his films, even Red River and The Searchers.
Some of the plot twists were a bit hard to follow, and I'm still not sure about the relationship between Ralls and Sidneye - it seemed to mellow towards the end.
Before watching the film I hadn't bothered to note its date and, going on Wayne's youthful appearance and the unsophisticated aspects of filming and plotting, I guessed it was early 1940s. I was a little surprised to see that it was 1948, just as Wayne was about to film some of his greatest Westerns.
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I enjoy most John Wayne films, notably his Westerns, and a long time ago read several books about him, but Wake of the Red Watch was all but unknown to me. (British TV frequently screens his better-known films butI can't recall "Wake" being shown before.)
It wasn't at all bad, if one overlooks some of the clichés and limited production values, and Wayne portrays a character more complex and less sympathetic than in any other of his films, even Red River and The Searchers.
Some of the plot twists were a bit hard to follow, and I'm still not sure about the relationship between Ralls and Sidneye - it seemed to mellow towards the end.
Before watching the film I hadn't bothered to note its date and, going on Wayne's youthful appearance and the unsophisticated aspects of filming and plotting, I guessed it was early 1940s. I was a little surprised to see that it was 1948, just as Wayne was about to film some of his greatest Westerns.