WHITE SHADOWS IN THE SOUTH SEAS (1928) B/W "silent" 86m dir: W.S. Van Dyke (and Robert Flaherty, uncredited)

w/Monte Blue, Raquel Torres, and Tahitian nonprofessionals

From Georges Sadoul's Dictionary of Films: "A doctor (Blue) who is rescued from a ship settles down in Tahiti ....

"[Robert Flaherty was hired by MGM to film the book by Frederick J. O'Brien whose advice had first sent Flaherty to Samoa to make Moana .... However, MGM wanted a 'story' and appointed a co-director, W.S. Van Dyke, who was a specialist in 'action' films. Soon after production began, Flaherty found himself at odds with Van Dyke's approach and (producer Irving) Thalberg insistence on using two 'stars.' He resigned and left Van Dyke to complete the film alone. There is considerable disagreement as to how much of the final film is Flaherty's but certainly some of the sequences seem to have his touch.]

"The plot, though it dealt with the corrupting influence of Western civilization, was considered puerile in North America and Britain. But its touching love story and the theme song were much admired by the French surrealists. Ado Kyrou echoed their feelings when he wrote of it as 'one of the most beautiful poems about love we have been given to see,' and of 'the magnetic beauty of this flood of love' and of 'this miracle that plunges us into total wonder."