Return to Paradise 1953
Return to Paradise
An American drifter comes to a remote Polynesian island controlled by a Puritanical missionary and turns the social life of the island upside-down.
An American drifter comes to a remote Polynesian island controlled by a Puritanical missionary and turns the social life of the island upside-down.
Videos & Photos
All 0 Videos & 3 Photoscast
Full Cast & Crew... Mr. Morgan
... Pastor Corbett
... Maeva
MW
Moira Walker... Turia
... Captain Harry Faber
... Tonga
User reviews
See All 1 Reviews30 May 2023 by CinemaSerf
Barry Jones's "Pastor Corbett" rules a tiny Pacific island with a godly rod of iron until the unwelcome arrival of American "Morgan" (Gary Cooper). He's distinctly non-conformist and has no intention of observing the sabbath and the rest of preacher's regime. The latter man's resistance to the government soon elicits support from the put-upon islanders and soon a coup, of sorts, ensues. Once the new order has been established, a form of peace breaks out until WWII arrives on their patch and they find themselves hosting the crew of a shot-down American plane of soon they all want to be shot, pretty quickly! Initially, the clashes of personalities between Cooper and Jones are quite effective, but that quickly falls away and we are left with a rather unremarkable romantic drama that I felt rather dragged, especially the will they/won't they courting scenes between Cooper and Roberta Haynes's "Maeva". If character redemption is your thing, then maybe you'll get a bit more from this - but for me, what made it interesting at the start is allowed to peter out far too swiftly. Some nice island photography of Samoa, though.
Directors:
Genres:
Release Date:
Jul 19, 1953 (United States)
Run Time:
1hr 40`
MMPA Rating:
NR
Original Language:
English
Production Countries:
United States
Status:
Released
Plot Keywords:
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Related Movies To
Return to Paradise
Barry Jones's "Pastor Corbett" rules a tiny Pacific island with a godly rod of iron until the unwelcome arrival of American "Morgan" (Gary Cooper). He's distinctly non-conformist and has no intention of observing the sabbath and the rest of preacher's regime. The latter man's resistance to the government soon elicits support from the put-upon islanders and soon a coup, of sorts, ensues. Once the new order has been established, a form of peace breaks out until WWII arrives on their patch and they find themselves hosting the crew of a shot-down American plane of soon they all want to be shot, pretty quickly! Initially, the clashes of personalities between Cooper and Jones are quite effective, but that quickly falls away and we are left with a rather unremarkable romantic drama that I felt rather dragged, especially the will they/won't they courting scenes between Cooper and Roberta Haynes's "Maeva". If character redemption is your thing, then maybe you'll get a bit more from this - but for me, what made it interesting at the start is allowed to peter out far too swiftly. Some nice island photography of Samoa, though.
Cast & Crew of
Return to Paradise
Directors & Credit Writers
... Director
Cast
... Mr. Morgan
... Pastor Corbett
... Maeva
MW
Moira Walker... Turia
... Captain Harry Faber
... Tonga
HK
Hans Kruse... Rori at age 21
... Maeva's Aunt