Return to Paradise 1953

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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 Photos

... Mr. Morgan

... Pastor Corbett

... Turia

... Captain Harry Faber

... Tonga

User reviews

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30 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:

Mark Robson

Genres:

Drama

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:

missionary

Related Movies To

Return to Paradise

Write Review

Found 1 reviews in total

30 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.

Cast & Crew of

Return to Paradise

Directors & Credit Writers

... Director

Cast

... Mr. Morgan

... Pastor Corbett

... Turia

... Captain Harry Faber

... Tonga

... Rori at age 21

... Maeva's Aunt

Videos & Photos of

Return to Paradise

Photos ( 3 )

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