Reflections on Film Culture

Bird of Paradise (1932)

Dolores del Rio shimmers in this tale of a South Seas island princess who has a secret affair with a sailor (Joel McCrea). This pre-Code early talkie from the great director King Vidor (Duel in the Sun, The Crowd) and producer David O. Selznick was notorious in its day fo an underwater love scene where del Rio appears to be nude! With tribal dances choreographed by Busby Berkeley, beautiful scenery shot in Hawaii and Santa Catalina, a score by Max Steiner (the first film score to be issued on a disc!) and the film debut of Lon Chaney Jr., there’s plenty to like in this forgotten gem from the glory days of RKO.

CAST AND CREW
DIRECTOR : King Vidor
CAST : Dolores Del Rio, Joel McCrea, John Halliday

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