Item: Hurricane
Rating: 6.9
Author: Archivist John

If you are looking for a movie where people shout with their eyes, then Hurricane is probably for you. It is worth watching today if you are the kind of person who likes seeing how movies looked right when they were starting to get loud and messy. You will probably hate it if you need fast editing or characters who don't stand still for thirty seconds at a time.

The whole thing starts with Captain Black. Alan Roscoe plays him with a face that looks like it was carved out of a very old, very grumpy piece of oak wood. He and his crew are stuck on this south sea island after a shipwreck. The island looks a bit like a stage play where someone forgot to bring the trees. The sand is very white and very flat.

There are some sailors they have captive. These guys mostly just sit around and look worried about their lives. It is hard to blame them because the pirates look like they haven't had a good meal or a bath in about three years. The pirates spend a lot of time pointing at things on the horizon.

One thing I noticed was how many writers this movie had. Five people! You see five writers on a script and you expect something like Hail the Woman where the drama is layered and thick. But here, it is mostly just guys in dirty shirts talking about cargo.

Then we get to see 'Hurricane' Martin’s ship. The way the ship approaches is actually really cool. You can tell they actually went out on the water for some of these shots. The boat looks heavy and real, not like a toy in a bathtub.

Johnny Mack Brown is in this too. He’s got this weird energy, like he’s trying way harder than everyone else on the beach. He’s much more lively than the people in His Wooden Wedding, even though that’s a totally different kind of vibe. He’s got that young actor energy where he wants to make sure you see him in the back of the shot.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Hurricane (1929) through its definitive frames.

There is a scene where Black is conspiring to get his men on the ship. They whisper so loudly that you figure the people on the ship could hear them if the wind was blowing the right way. It’s one of those movie things where 'sneaky' just means talking in a slightly lower voice while standing in plain sight.

I found myself staring at the hats Leila Hyams and Leila McIntyre were wearing. They are huge. They look like they might catch a breeze and fly away at any second. I wonder if they had to glue them to their heads because nobody’s hair moves at all during the beach scenes.

The movie gets noticeably better once they actually get near the ship. There is something about the rigging and the ropes that makes it feel like a real adventure. It isn't as polished as Christopher Columbus, but it has more dirt under its fingernails.

The pacing is a bit like a car that keeps stalling. It goes fast when there is a fight, and then it just stops. One reaction shot of a pirate looking confused lasted so long I thought my screen had frozen. He just stares. And stares. It’s kind of funny after the first ten seconds.

Captain Black is a weird villain because he doesn't seem that smart. He just seems like the guy who yelled the loudest so everyone decided he was the boss. His 'conspiracy' is basically just 'let's go over there and take their stuff.' Not exactly a master plan.

The captives don't do much. They are just there to be rescued, I guess. It reminded me of Fog Bound in the sense that everyone is just waiting for something to happen so they can go home. But at least here they are in the sun instead of the mist.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Hurricane (1929) through its definitive frames.

I liked the way the water looked against the hull of the ship. There is a specific grey-and-white look to the film stock here that makes the ocean look very dangerous. It’s better than most of the other pirate stuff from this year.

Sometimes the actors seem like they are waiting for someone to tell them where to stand. You can see a guy in the background of one scene just kind of wandering around until he realizes he’s on camera and then he starts acting very busy with a rope. It’s those little things that make these old movies feel human.

The ending feels like they realized they were running out of time. Everything wraps up very quickly. One minute they are fighting, the next minute it is over. It’s a bit of a letdown if you wanted a big emotional payoff.

If you enjoy seeing how sets were built back then, look at the interior of the ship. It looks very cramped. It actually feels like a boat, which is more than you can say for a lot of higher budget movies. It doesn't have the polish of Naughty, but it’s got a lot more sweat.

Is it a classic? Probably not. But it’s a good way to spend an hour if you like seeing people in pirate costumes falling over each other. It’s a bit messy, but in a way that feels like real people were actually trying to make something fun.

Just don't expect too much from the 'cargo' plot. They never really tell you what's in the boxes. It could be gold or it could be crackers. Everyone just wants it because the script says so.