Slattery's Hurricane
Encyclopedia
Slattery's Hurricane is a 1949
drama film
based on a story submitted by Herman Wouk
to Twentieth Century Fox. The film tells the story of an anti-hero
ex-navy pilot who discovers that he works for a dope-smuggling ring, but ultimately attempts to redeem himself during a violent hurricane. It stars Richard Widmark
, Linda Darnell
and Veronica Lake
. Wouk, who also coauthored the screenplay, published a novel of the film in 1956.
A radio adaptation starring Richard Conte
, Maureen O'Hara
and Lake was broadcast on Lux Radio Theatre in March 1950.
Slattery's Hurricane thus begins with this narrative by Gary Merrill
. Will Slattery (Richard Widmark
), a former World War II
Navy pilot still on inactive reserve
, forcibly takes his employer's Grumman Mallard
from the estate in Miami and heads for an incoming hurricane. He obtains his bearings from a Navy control tower by pretending to be a weather patrol flight. Despite a threat of court martial when the Navy discovers the ruse, Slattery flies into the storm, reviewing his life in flashback for the next hour...
Disgruntled with the service, in part because he was disciplined instead of decorated for a hazardous mission, Slattery left the Navy and became a private pilot for candy manufacturer R.J. Milne (Walter Kingsford
) on the recommendation of his girlfriend, Dolores Grieves (Veronica Lake
), Milne's secretary. He lives an easy life, until the day he literally bumps into "Hobby" Hobson (John Russell
), an old Navy buddy. Amused that Hobson stayed in the Navy, he nonetheless accepts an invitation to fly along on a weather flight into the heart of a hurricane. Slattery is disturbed to find that Hobby is married to Slattery's former lover, Aggie (Linda Darnell
), who ended their unhappy relationship years before. At dinner for the two couples, he pretends to have just met her, but Dolores immediately suspects their past attachment. Slattery invites Hobby to fly with him the next day, maneuvering Aggie into coming along, to show off his lifestyle, and introduces them to Milne and his shady partner, Gregory (Joe De Santis
).
Slattery tricks Aggie into meeting him alone while Hobby is away, and although she initially rejects his "fast one", he seduces her. Dolores confronts Slattery and they argue over his betrayal of Hobby and the effect his job is having on him. He soon discovers Dolores not only moved out, but quit her job as well, alarming Milne and Gregory, who fear she knows too much about their dealings. In the meantime, Slattery's affair with Aggie continues. Milne has Slattery fly him to a remote Caribbean island, where Milne has a heart attack. Slattery tries to save his life on the flight back, and discovers that Milne is smuggling drugs, taped to his chest. Milne dies and Slattery keeps the "parcel". Dolores telephones him and warns him again to get out, but he gets drunk instead. Gregory beats him up to get back the "parcel", but Slattery counters with a warning that he has hidden information about the smuggling ring in a safe deposit box
, should anything happen to him.
The Navy unexpectedly awards Slattery the Navy Cross
from his wartime heroics. Dolores attends the ceremony, but when she sees Slattery embrace Aggie afterwards, collapses and is hospitalized in a psychiatric ward
. Slattery is called in by her doctor and castigated for his role in her illness. He leaves his Navy Cross with Dolores and goes to Aggie's to end the relationship. A drunken Hobby is there, however, having discovered the affair. He beats an unresisting Will, but is ordered to report for a hurricane mission. Slattery sees that Hobby is in no condition to fly the mission and knocks him out to prevent it. He then steals his employer's plane and flies into the storm...
Slattery flies into the eye of the hurricane and reports its position. His warning is instrumental in saving Miami from serious loss of life and property loss, but in returning to Miami, he loses an engine. Believing he will crash, he also radios the tower about the location of the drug-smuggling information. When the plane does crash, he unexpectedly survives. Slattery is accepted back on active duty, and by Dolores.
-winning novel
, The Caine Mutiny
. After publishing it as a short story
in The American Magazine, he submitted the idea to Twentieth Century Fox, and was commissioned by Fox in January 1948 to write a concise plot and flesh out characters for a proposed screenplay. Wouk, a budding novelist, instead rewrote the story as a book, for which Fox procured the film rights for $50,000. He was paid an additional $25,000 to co-write the screenplay with Richard Murphy
. Fox writers A. I. Bezzerides
, John Monks, Jr. and William Perlberg
also had uncredited roles in drafting the screenplay, which was finished in September 1948. The novel itself was not published until 1956. Both Tyrone Power
and Dana Andrews
were originally considered for the role of Slattery before Widmark, in just his sixth role, was cast as the lead.
Dolores' characterization as a drug addict in the original story became a major issue between the studio and the Production Code Administration
(PCA). The studio apparently ignored a memo from PCA head Joseph Breen
sent in November 1948, which advised that it would be necessary to remove this characterization as it was in direct violation of the Production Code. Several weeks later, the PCA again complained that the revised final script still characterized Dolores as a drug addict, and noted "that there has now been introduced into this script a highly offensive sexuality and adulterous relationship between Slattery and Aggie." As a result, the adultery was diluted down to dialogue innuendo and actions suggestive of a sexual affair.
Breen warned Colonel Jason S. Joy, Director of Public Relations for Fox, that if the drug addiction was left in the finished picture, it would not be approved by them. In April 1949, her hospitalization sequence was reshot, and the script rewritten so that the drug problem was replaced with an implied psychiatric condition. However, her fictional admission slip to a psychiatric ward is shown close-up to the audience and displays a diagnosis of "pharmacopsychosis", or psychosis
resulting from drug use.
Filming began "at the close of the hurricane season in 1948" at Master Field, Florida, part of the Naval Air Station Miami
complex. The U.S. Navy weather reconnaissance squadron
depicted in the film, VP-23
, was deployed to Miami to support the production, with extensive footage shot of its PB4Y-2M Privateer aircraft. Squadron personnel were employed as extras, including nearly all members assembled in the decoration ceremony. At the close of filming, a projected move to NAS Patuxent River was cancelled and PatRon Twenty Three remained at Master Field until 1952.
In the preliminary print of the film pre-screened in mid-May 1949, Slattery was killed in the crash of the plane and died a hero.
Veronica Lake, then married to the film's director, André de Toth
, unsuccessfully used the film as a vehicle for her possible career comeback. In her autobiography Veronica, Lake wrote:
, gave the film a mostly positive review, and wrote, "His redemption up in the wild and not-so-blue yonder is a palpable hoax. However, Richard Widmark plays this conventional rogue with more intensity and professional acumen than the role deserves. But it is a good thing that Mr. Widmark was so willing and earnest because had his acting been less worthy Slattery's Hurricane would have tumbled like a stack of cards in the wind. Andre de Toth's direction is good in that it keeps the story moving and, curiously enough, the constant switching via flashbacks from the plane to detailed visualizations of Slattery's recollections is not as disturbing as might be expected."
1949 in film
The year 1949 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
based on a story submitted by Herman Wouk
Herman Wouk
Herman Wouk is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author of novels including The Caine Mutiny, The Winds of War, and War and Remembrance.-Biography:...
to Twentieth Century Fox. The film tells the story of an anti-hero
Anti-hero
In fiction, an antihero is generally considered to be a protagonist whose character is at least in some regards conspicuously contrary to that of the archetypal hero, and is in some instances its antithesis in which the character is generally useless at being a hero or heroine when they're...
ex-navy pilot who discovers that he works for a dope-smuggling ring, but ultimately attempts to redeem himself during a violent hurricane. It stars Richard Widmark
Richard Widmark
Richard Weedt Widmark was an American film, stage and television actor.He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, Kiss of Death...
, Linda Darnell
Linda Darnell
Linda Darnell was an American film actress.Darnell was a model as a child, and progressed to theater and film acting as an adolescent. At the encouragement of her mother, she made her first film in 1939, and appeared in supporting roles in big budget films for 20th Century Fox throughout the 1940s...
and Veronica Lake
Veronica Lake
Veronica Lake was an American film actress and pin-up model. She received both popular and critical acclaim, most notably for her role in Sullivan's Travels and her femme fatale roles in film noir with Alan Ladd during the 1940s, and was well-known for her peek-a-boo hairstyle...
. Wouk, who also coauthored the screenplay, published a novel of the film in 1956.
A radio adaptation starring Richard Conte
Richard Conte
Richard Conte was an American actor. He appeared in numerous films from the 1940s through 1970s, including I'll Cry Tomorrow and The Godfather.-Life and career:...
, Maureen O'Hara
Maureen O'Hara
Maureen O'Hara is an Irish film actress and singer. The famously red-headed O'Hara has been noted for playing fiercely passionate heroines with a highly sensible attitude. She often worked with director John Ford and longtime friend John Wayne...
and Lake was broadcast on Lux Radio Theatre in March 1950.
Plot
"...This is a hurricaneTropical cycloneA tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low-pressure center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rain. Tropical cyclones strengthen when water evaporated from the ocean is released as the saturated air rises, resulting in condensation of water vapor...
. Hurricanes are windstorms of great violence several hundred miles in diameter, with a dead calm at the center called the eyeEye (cyclone)The eye is a region of mostly calm weather found at the center of strong tropical cyclones. The eye of a storm is a roughly circular area and typically 30–65 km in diameter. It is surrounded by the eyewall, a ring of towering thunderstorms where the second most severe weather of a cyclone...
. Like whirlpoolWhirlpoolA whirlpool is a swirling body of water usually produced by ocean tides. The vast majority of whirlpools are not very powerful. More powerful ones are more properly termed maelstroms. Vortex is the proper term for any whirlpool that has a downdraft...
s, they spin rapidly, hurling great destruction in their paths. They're spawned in the doldrumsDoldrumsThe doldrums is a colloquial expression derived from historical maritime usage for those parts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean affected by the Intertropical Convergence Zone, a low-pressure area around the equator where the prevailing winds are calm...
, their father the heat of the sun, their mother the moisture of the sea. From July to December every year, the CaribbeanCaribbean SeaThe Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
crawls with these evil offspring of the elements..."
Slattery's Hurricane thus begins with this narrative by Gary Merrill
Gary Merrill
Gary Fred Merrill was an American film and television character actor whose credits included more than fifty feature films, a half-dozen mostly short-lived TV series, and dozens of television guest appearances....
. Will Slattery (Richard Widmark
Richard Widmark
Richard Weedt Widmark was an American film, stage and television actor.He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, Kiss of Death...
), a former World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Navy pilot still on inactive reserve
Reserve components of the United States armed forces
The reserve components of the United States armed forces are military organizations whose members, generally perform a minimum of 39 days of military duty per year and who augment the active duty military when necessary. The reserve components are also referred to collectively as the Guard and...
, forcibly takes his employer's Grumman Mallard
Grumman Mallard
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Hotson, Fred W. Grumman Mallard: The Enduring Classic. Scarborough, Ontario: Robin Brass Studio, 2006. ISBN 978-1896941448....
from the estate in Miami and heads for an incoming hurricane. He obtains his bearings from a Navy control tower by pretending to be a weather patrol flight. Despite a threat of court martial when the Navy discovers the ruse, Slattery flies into the storm, reviewing his life in flashback for the next hour...
Disgruntled with the service, in part because he was disciplined instead of decorated for a hazardous mission, Slattery left the Navy and became a private pilot for candy manufacturer R.J. Milne (Walter Kingsford
Walter Kingsford
Walter Kingsford was a British stage, film and television actor born in Redhill, Surrey, England. He was born Walter Pearce and had several sisters...
) on the recommendation of his girlfriend, Dolores Grieves (Veronica Lake
Veronica Lake
Veronica Lake was an American film actress and pin-up model. She received both popular and critical acclaim, most notably for her role in Sullivan's Travels and her femme fatale roles in film noir with Alan Ladd during the 1940s, and was well-known for her peek-a-boo hairstyle...
), Milne's secretary. He lives an easy life, until the day he literally bumps into "Hobby" Hobson (John Russell
John Russell (actor)
John Lawrence Russell was an American actor, and World War II veteran, most noted for playing Marshal Dan Troop in the successful ABC western television series Lawman from 1958 to 1962....
), an old Navy buddy. Amused that Hobson stayed in the Navy, he nonetheless accepts an invitation to fly along on a weather flight into the heart of a hurricane. Slattery is disturbed to find that Hobby is married to Slattery's former lover, Aggie (Linda Darnell
Linda Darnell
Linda Darnell was an American film actress.Darnell was a model as a child, and progressed to theater and film acting as an adolescent. At the encouragement of her mother, she made her first film in 1939, and appeared in supporting roles in big budget films for 20th Century Fox throughout the 1940s...
), who ended their unhappy relationship years before. At dinner for the two couples, he pretends to have just met her, but Dolores immediately suspects their past attachment. Slattery invites Hobby to fly with him the next day, maneuvering Aggie into coming along, to show off his lifestyle, and introduces them to Milne and his shady partner, Gregory (Joe De Santis
Joe De Santis
Joseph Vito DeSantis was an American radio, television, movie and theatrical actor and sculptor.-Biography:Joe DeSantis was born Joseph Vito Marcello DeSantis to Italian immigrant parents in New York City...
).
Slattery tricks Aggie into meeting him alone while Hobby is away, and although she initially rejects his "fast one", he seduces her. Dolores confronts Slattery and they argue over his betrayal of Hobby and the effect his job is having on him. He soon discovers Dolores not only moved out, but quit her job as well, alarming Milne and Gregory, who fear she knows too much about their dealings. In the meantime, Slattery's affair with Aggie continues. Milne has Slattery fly him to a remote Caribbean island, where Milne has a heart attack. Slattery tries to save his life on the flight back, and discovers that Milne is smuggling drugs, taped to his chest. Milne dies and Slattery keeps the "parcel". Dolores telephones him and warns him again to get out, but he gets drunk instead. Gregory beats him up to get back the "parcel", but Slattery counters with a warning that he has hidden information about the smuggling ring in a safe deposit box
Safe deposit box
A safe deposit box or wrongly referred to as a safety deposit box is an individually-secured container, usually held within a larger safe or bank vault. Safe deposit boxes are generally located in banks, post offices or other institutions...
, should anything happen to him.
The Navy unexpectedly awards Slattery the Navy Cross
Navy Cross
The Navy Cross is the highest decoration that may be bestowed by the Department of the Navy and the second highest decoration given for valor. It is normally only awarded to members of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps and United States Coast Guard, but can be awarded to all...
from his wartime heroics. Dolores attends the ceremony, but when she sees Slattery embrace Aggie afterwards, collapses and is hospitalized in a psychiatric ward
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
. Slattery is called in by her doctor and castigated for his role in her illness. He leaves his Navy Cross with Dolores and goes to Aggie's to end the relationship. A drunken Hobby is there, however, having discovered the affair. He beats an unresisting Will, but is ordered to report for a hurricane mission. Slattery sees that Hobby is in no condition to fly the mission and knocks him out to prevent it. He then steals his employer's plane and flies into the storm...
Slattery flies into the eye of the hurricane and reports its position. His warning is instrumental in saving Miami from serious loss of life and property loss, but in returning to Miami, he loses an engine. Believing he will crash, he also radios the tower about the location of the drug-smuggling information. When the plane does crash, he unexpectedly survives. Slattery is accepted back on active duty, and by Dolores.
Cast
- Richard WidmarkRichard WidmarkRichard Weedt Widmark was an American film, stage and television actor.He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, Kiss of Death...
as Willard Francis "Will" Slattery. - Linda DarnellLinda DarnellLinda Darnell was an American film actress.Darnell was a model as a child, and progressed to theater and film acting as an adolescent. At the encouragement of her mother, she made her first film in 1939, and appeared in supporting roles in big budget films for 20th Century Fox throughout the 1940s...
as Mrs. Aggie Hobson - Veronica LakeVeronica LakeVeronica Lake was an American film actress and pin-up model. She received both popular and critical acclaim, most notably for her role in Sullivan's Travels and her femme fatale roles in film noir with Alan Ladd during the 1940s, and was well-known for her peek-a-boo hairstyle...
as Dolores Grieves - John RussellJohn Russell (actor)John Lawrence Russell was an American actor, and World War II veteran, most noted for playing Marshal Dan Troop in the successful ABC western television series Lawman from 1958 to 1962....
as Lieutenant F.J. "Hobby" Hobson - Gary MerrillGary MerrillGary Fred Merrill was an American film and television character actor whose credits included more than fifty feature films, a half-dozen mostly short-lived TV series, and dozens of television guest appearances....
as Commander E.T. Kramer - Walter KingsfordWalter KingsfordWalter Kingsford was a British stage, film and television actor born in Redhill, Surrey, England. He was born Walter Pearce and had several sisters...
as R.J. Milne - Raymond Greenleaf as Adm. William F. Ollenby
- Stanley Waxman as Frank
- Joe De SantisJoe De SantisJoseph Vito DeSantis was an American radio, television, movie and theatrical actor and sculptor.-Biography:Joe DeSantis was born Joseph Vito Marcello DeSantis to Italian immigrant parents in New York City...
as Gregory - Morris AnkrumMorris AnkrumMorris Ankrum was an American radio, television and film character actor.-Early life:Born Morris Nussbaum in Danville, Illinois, Ankrum originally began a career in academics. After graduating from USC with a law degree, he went on to an associate professorship in economics at the University of...
as Dr. Holmes (uncredited) - Maudie PrickettMaudie PrickettMaudie Prickett was an American film and television character actress.Born in Portland, Oregon, Prickett often portrayed maids, busybodies, spinsters, and nosy neighbors...
as Nurse Collins (scenes deleted)
Production
Herman Wouk came upon the idea for Slattery's Hurricane while researching weather data for his future Pulitzer PrizePulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, The Caine Mutiny
The Caine Mutiny
The Caine Mutiny is a 1952 Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Herman Wouk. The novel grew out of Wouk's personal experiences aboard a destroyer-minesweeper in the Pacific in World War II and deals with, among other things, the moral and ethical decisions made at sea by the captains of ships...
. After publishing it as a short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
in The American Magazine, he submitted the idea to Twentieth Century Fox, and was commissioned by Fox in January 1948 to write a concise plot and flesh out characters for a proposed screenplay. Wouk, a budding novelist, instead rewrote the story as a book, for which Fox procured the film rights for $50,000. He was paid an additional $25,000 to co-write the screenplay with Richard Murphy
Richard Murphy (screenwriter)
Richard Murphy was an American screenwriter, film director, and producer.-Biography:Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Murphy worked for Literary Digest in the 1930s before leaving in 1937 to work in the short film department at MGM...
. Fox writers A. I. Bezzerides
A. I. Bezzerides
A.I. " Buzz" Bezzerides, , was an American novelist and screenwriter, best known for writing Noir and Action motion pictures, especially several of Warners' "social conscience" films of the 1940s....
, John Monks, Jr. and William Perlberg
William Perlberg
William Perlberg was an American film producer.William Perlberg was born Wolf Perelberg, son of Israel Jakob Perelberg , a fur manufacturer, and Tajbe Markus. Seven months after his father, he came to the U.S.A...
also had uncredited roles in drafting the screenplay, which was finished in September 1948. The novel itself was not published until 1956. Both Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
and Dana Andrews
Dana Andrews
Dana Andrews was an American film actor. He was one of Hollywood's major stars of the 1940s, and continued acting, though generally in less prestigious roles, into the 1980s.-Early life:...
were originally considered for the role of Slattery before Widmark, in just his sixth role, was cast as the lead.
Dolores' characterization as a drug addict in the original story became a major issue between the studio and the Production Code Administration
Production Code Administration
The Production Code Administration was established by the Motion Picture Association of America in 1934. The PCA required all filmmakers to submit their films for approval before release.-See also:* Pre-Code* Joseph Breen* Will H. Hays...
(PCA). The studio apparently ignored a memo from PCA head Joseph Breen
Joseph Breen
Joseph Breen is an American soap opera actor.He played contract parts on both Guiding Light and Loving before being offered his most front-burner role to date: that of Lisa’s long-lost son, Scott Eldridge, on As the World Turns...
sent in November 1948, which advised that it would be necessary to remove this characterization as it was in direct violation of the Production Code. Several weeks later, the PCA again complained that the revised final script still characterized Dolores as a drug addict, and noted "that there has now been introduced into this script a highly offensive sexuality and adulterous relationship between Slattery and Aggie." As a result, the adultery was diluted down to dialogue innuendo and actions suggestive of a sexual affair.
Breen warned Colonel Jason S. Joy, Director of Public Relations for Fox, that if the drug addiction was left in the finished picture, it would not be approved by them. In April 1949, her hospitalization sequence was reshot, and the script rewritten so that the drug problem was replaced with an implied psychiatric condition. However, her fictional admission slip to a psychiatric ward is shown close-up to the audience and displays a diagnosis of "pharmacopsychosis", or psychosis
Psychosis
Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
resulting from drug use.
Filming began "at the close of the hurricane season in 1948" at Master Field, Florida, part of the Naval Air Station Miami
Opa-locka Airport
Opa-locka Airport , also known as Opa-locka Executive Airport, is a general aviation airport and joint civil-military airfield 10 miles north of Downtown Miami, primarily in metropolitan Miami, Florida, United States, with a portion within the city proper of Opa-locka.The airport's control tower...
complex. The U.S. Navy weather reconnaissance squadron
Hurricane Hunters
The Hurricane Hunters are aircraft that fly into tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic Ocean and Northeastern Pacific Ocean for the specific purpose of directly measuring weather data in and around those storms. In the United States, the Air Force, Navy, and NOAA units have all participated in...
depicted in the film, VP-23
VP-23
VP-23, Patrol Squadron 23, known as the Seahawks, was a U.S. Navy fixed-wing, anti-submarine and maritime Patrol Squadron based at Brunswick Naval Air Station, Brunswick, Maine, USA...
, was deployed to Miami to support the production, with extensive footage shot of its PB4Y-2M Privateer aircraft. Squadron personnel were employed as extras, including nearly all members assembled in the decoration ceremony. At the close of filming, a projected move to NAS Patuxent River was cancelled and PatRon Twenty Three remained at Master Field until 1952.
In the preliminary print of the film pre-screened in mid-May 1949, Slattery was killed in the crash of the plane and died a hero.
Veronica Lake, then married to the film's director, André de Toth
André De Toth
André de Toth was a Hungarian-American filmmaker, born and raised in Makó, Csongrád, Kingdom of Hungary Austro-Hungarian Empire. He directed the 3-D film House of Wax, despite being unable to see in 3-D himself, having lost an eye at an early age. He is known for his gritty B movies in the western...
, unsuccessfully used the film as a vehicle for her possible career comeback. In her autobiography Veronica, Lake wrote:
"The Navy, proud of Slattery's Hurricane and the salute it gave to Navy pilots, previewed the film in its 90-ton giant aircraft, the Constitution. Eighty-six people made that flight and circled around Manhattan for three hours, ate lunch and watched Slattery's Hurricane. A temporary projection system had been installed as well as a silver screen in the front of the plane... and some writers covering the flight speculated on what use in-flight films might have in commercial aviationCommercial aviationCommercial aviation is the part of civil aviation that involves operating aircraft for hire to transport passengers or cargo...
. If they only knew."
Critical reception
When first released, Thomas M. Pryor (known as T.M.P), film critic for The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, gave the film a mostly positive review, and wrote, "His redemption up in the wild and not-so-blue yonder is a palpable hoax. However, Richard Widmark plays this conventional rogue with more intensity and professional acumen than the role deserves. But it is a good thing that Mr. Widmark was so willing and earnest because had his acting been less worthy Slattery's Hurricane would have tumbled like a stack of cards in the wind. Andre de Toth's direction is good in that it keeps the story moving and, curiously enough, the constant switching via flashbacks from the plane to detailed visualizations of Slattery's recollections is not as disturbing as might be expected."
External links
- Slattery's Hurricane at Film Noir of the Week by noir historian Eddie MullerEddie MullerEddie Muller is a writer based in San Francisco. He is known for writing books about movies, particularly film noir. Founder and president of the Film Noir Foundation, he is considered a noir expert and is called on to write and talk about the film genre, notably on wry commentary tracks for Fox's...
(includes film clip) - Slattery's Hurricane novel review at Rough Edges by James Reasoner including photograph of cover
- Slattery's Hurricane film review at Films of the Golden Age by Jeff Gordon