Wake of the Red Witch (1948)

Truly Dreadful Film

A lot of fun.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

WAKE OF THE RED WITCH is an unusual outing for John Wayne and a far cry from the typical western pictures that he's best known for. Here he plays a grizzled sea captain who hunts for a hidden fortune, fights with powerful rivals, and romances a girl in exotic climes. The story is slightly episodic and unusually downbeat, with harsh characterisation and an emphasis on conflict throughout, but it also feels quite fresh and engaging and the change of scenery for the star works well. It also has the inimitable scene of Wayne battling a giant octopus, which is worth the admission price alone.

If ever a movie deserved the expression, "they don't make 'em like this anymore", it is "Wake of the Red Witch". Set in the South Seas during the mid-Nineteenth Century it stars John Wayne as Captain Ralls, a tough ship's master, and a man embittered by unhappy memories. Ralls has fallen in love with the same woman as Mayrant Sydneye, a powerful trader played by Luther Adler, setting in motion a rivalry that is mutually destructive. The film contains two extensive flashbacks that reveal the reasons behind Ralls' bitterness. Although flashbacks were a staple of movies at the time, "Wake Of The Red Witch" contains flashbacks within flashbacks, giving the film more layers than the linoleum on an old kitchen floor."Wake Of The Red Witch" also has a number of scenes that rely on special effects for their impact. The special effects crew must have buckled at the knees when informed that the script called for a battle with a giant octopus over a chest full of pearls, a native diver trapped by a giant clam, a couple of shipwrecks and finally, a sunken ship sliding off a rock shelf into the depths below.When John Wayne wrestles the octopus, he doesn't actually wrap the tentacles around himself like Bela Lugosi did in Ed Wood's "Bride of the Monster", but it's close. Incidentally, it's the same octopus. The South Sea island settings were also a challenge for the set designers, and tend to resemble a K-Mart garden centre.Of more concern is the way Wayne falls in and out of character. From the driven and ruthless Ralls in the earlier scenes, he becomes the tough, but warm-hearted character familiar to anyone who has seen films such as Rio Bravo or Sons Of Katie Elder – all that was needed to completely dispel the mood would have been for him to don a cowboy hat.That "Wake Of The Red Witch" works at all is due to its outlandish, larger-than-life story, Wayne's personal magnetism, and to very good work by the supporting cast. Luther Adler as Mayrant Sydneye projects power and menace but also invests his character with enough humanity to gain sympathy. Through his portrayal, the conflict with Ralls attains a depth that just about saves the movie. Gail Russell as the doomed Angelique also shines in her role. She provides the perfect foil to Wayne's testosterone charged Ralls, making believable his transformation into the gentle, sensitive lover he becomes in her company."Wake Of The Red Witch" is so over-the-top it almost defies criticism. Later in his career, John Wayne would bring a certain amount of self-parody to his roles but in "Wake of the Red Witch" he plays it straight. He inhabits his character by sheer screen presence rather than by any finely honed acting chops. However for Wayne fans that is probably enough.

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.

Hired "Red Witch" skipper John Wayne (as Captain Ralls) vies with financier boss Luther Adler (as Mayrant Ruysdaal Sidneye) for not only the love of beautiful Gail Russell (as Angelique), but also five million dollars in gold bullion. Their tale is told in "flashback" style, by fellow traveler Gig Young (as Sam Rosen).The story might be described as a "Heart of Darkness" attempt to adapt Wayne's "Reap the Wild Wind" into Laurence Olivier's "Wuthering Heights". The flashbacks do not really help build dramatic tension; rather, they make the story more confusing. Despite the presentation, the characters emerge as somewhat interesting, especially good is Mr. Adler's portrayal. There is some ambitious underwater camera-work, which fails, due to, for example, an unremarkable editing in of Wayne close-ups.Everyone tries awfully hard to make "Wake of the Red Witch" hunt, but it doesn't. **** Wake of the Red Witch (12/30/48) Edward Ludwig ~ John Wayne, Gail Russell, Luther Adler, Gig Young