WAKE OF THE RED WITCH

DIRECTED BY EDWARD LUDWIG
PRODUCED BY EDWARD GRAINGER
REPUBLIC PICTURES

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c187/john-wayne/John%20Wayne/amovie_wotrw.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c187/john-wayne/John%20Wayne/bmemo02.gif..http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c187/john-wayne/John%20Wayne/3CIN01166_N199.jpg

INFORMATION FROM IMDb

Plot Summary
Captain Ralls fights Dutch shipping magnate Mayrant Sidneye
for the woman he loves, Angelique Desaix,
and for a fortune in gold aboard the Red Witch.
Summary written by Jim Beaver

Full Cast
John Wayne .... Capt. Ralls
Gail Russell .... Angelique Desaix
Gig Young .... Samuel 'Sam' Rosen
Adele Mara .... Teleia Van Schreeven
Luther Adler .... Mayrant Ruysdaal Sidneye
Eduard Franz .... Harmenszoon Van Schreeven
Grant Withers .... Capt. Wilde Youngeur
Henry Daniell .... Jacques Desaix
Paul Fix .... Antonio 'Ripper' Arrezo
Dennis Hoey .... Capt. Munsey
Jeff Corey .... Mr. Loring
Erskine Sanford .... Dr. van Arken
Duke Kahanamoku .... Ua Nuke
Fred Aldrich .... Seaman (uncredited)
Fernando Alvarado .... Maru (uncredited)
Jose Alvarado .... Taluna (uncredited)
George Barrows .... Seaman (uncredited)
Henry Brandon .... Kurinua (uncredited)
David Clarke .... Mullins (uncredited)
James Dime .... Seaman (uncredited)
Fred Fox .... Ship's Surgeon (uncredited)
Fred Graham .... Sailor in Fight (uncredited)
Vic Groves .... Seaman (uncredited)
Myron Healey .... Seaman on 'Red Witch' (uncredited)
Mailoa Kalili .... Seaman (uncredited)
Al Kikume .... Native Servant (uncredited)
Fred Libby .... Lookout Sailor (uncredited)
Harold Lishman .... Kharma (uncredited)
Rory Mallinson .... Officer (uncredited)
Grant Means .... Dirk (uncredited)
Frank Mills .... Seaman (uncredited)
Jim Nolan .... First Diver (uncredited)
Frank O'Connor .... Old Seaman (uncredited)
Gil Perkins .... Seaman/Flogger (uncredited)
John Pickard .... Second Diver (uncredited)
George Piltz .... Native (uncredited)
Norman Rainey .... Lawyer (uncredited)
Leo C. Richmond .... Native Priest (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson .... Seaman (uncredited)
Wallace Scott .... Sailor (uncredited)
Mickey Simpson .... Second Officer (uncredited)
Carl Thompson .... Hekkim, Cabin Boy (uncredited)
Kuka Tuima .... Native (uncredited)
Harry J. Vejar .... Jarma, Angelique's Servant (uncredited)
Harlan Warde .... Seaman Handling Diving Line (uncredited)
John Wengraf .... Prosecuting Attorney (uncredited)
Harry Wilson .... Seaman on 'Red Witch' (uncredited)
Ward Wood .... Young Sailor (uncredited)

Writing Credits
Harry Brown
Kenneth Gamet
Garland Roark novel

Produced
Edmund Grainger .... associate producer

Original Music
Nathan Scott

Cinematography
Reggie Lanning

Stunts
Roydon Clark .... stunts (uncredited)
Fred Graham .... stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson .... stunts (uncredited)
Paul Stader .... stunts (uncredited)

Trivia
The rubber octopus used in this movie was later stolen by Edward D. Wood Jr.'s crew and used in Bride of the Monster (1955). They forgot to steal the motor that ran the tentacles though, so Bela Lugosi was forced to wrap the tentacles around him while he "fought" the beast.

John Wayne took the name of his production company, Batjac, from this film's shipping firm. The original spelling though was "Batjak", a likely portmanteau of "Batavia" and "Jayakarta", both being the old names of the capital of the Dutch East Indies at the time (as of 2009 it is Jakarta, Indonesia).

The movie was filmed in black and white in an attempt to make the studio sets less obvious.

Goofs
* Revealing mistakes: The shipwreck is obviously a model.

Filming Locations
Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden - 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, California, USA
Santa Catalina Island, Channel Islands, California, USA

Previous discussion:-
Wake Of The Wid Witch (http://www.dukewayne.com/showthread.php?t=509)

Hi,
Welcome to REAP THE WILD WIND Part II.
May even be the same octopus, it wasn't, was it???
Funny old film this one, and one that is just watchable.
Duke acted well, and made the film better than it was.
Now Gail Russell, she was a cracker, she didn't appear for 45 minutes,
but boy, oh boy, was there chemistry between her and her leading man!!
Not only was their chemistry on the silver screen, it spilled over, into their social lives,
so much so that Chata , Duke's wife was, not impressed!!
Adele Mara, a Duke favourite, also acquitted herself well.

Author: rsda from London, England
Wake of the Red Witch may be John Wayne in his most demanding role.
He plays Captain Rawles who skuttles the Red Witch to later go back and rescue it's treasure in gold bullion. 
Wayne has never has so many colorful character elements in any film.
And along side the beautiful Gail Russell, he manages his best performance. 
Ms. Russell as Anglelique is at her most beguiling and tragic.
Her death scene in which Wayne carries her, dying, to look at the sea once more is as powerful 
as the death scene in "Wuthering Heights" which it is lifted from.
The main advantage here is that Gail Russell is more vulnerable and beautiful
than Merle Oberon was in "Heights" And the last scene with John and Gail at the wheel of the ghost ship,
Red Witch is a never to be forgotten Hollywood film moment.
Author: Ron Kerrigan from Whidbey Island, Washington, from IMDb
Echoes of DeMille's "Reap the Wild Wind" abound in this not-altogether successful adventure film.
As in "Reap", John Wayne plays a ship captain with a dark side, a ship is scuttled, 
an underwater battle with a giant octopus/squid is fought (but it doesn't come close to convincing you),
and a dive to a sunken ship ends in disaster for a diver. But DeMille's movie had better production values, 
more interesting casting, and a clever script. "Wake of the Red Witch" is told by one of the participants 
who is also telling a tale he was told by someone else, so sometimes it's not clear who's telling what. 
And, unfortunately the scenes set on the South Sea Islands are not too successful 
(and the depiction of the natives a bit condescending). All in all, okay, with beautiful Gail Russell to ease you over the poorer parts
(although she doesn't appear for the first 45 minutes.)

Critics panned the film's rambling story line, and poor effects,
but the low-budget film, even though it had over-run by $1 million,
performed well at the box office, and finished 43rd. on VARIETY list of moneymakers in 1949.
Duke liked the film,later naming his production company Batjac, after the
Batjak company in the film, the spelling, accidently being changed, during documentation!!
He likened the story line, with own fight against the big C.
Rating 7/10

This would be on a list of my favorite JW movies, right up there with Reap the Wild Wind, another glorious technicolor production from Hollywood's golden era.

Deep Discount DVD (http://search.deepdiscountdvd.com/search?p=Q&ts=custom&w=wake+of+the+red+witch&search.x=0&search.y=0) - movie on DVD and one movie poster.

Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/103-4971277-1548624?initialSearch=1&url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=wake+of+the+red+witch&Go.x=0&Go.y=0&Go=Go) has the movie on DVD and VHS, and a book with the same title which seems to be the story on which the movie is based.

Chester :newyear:

I have yet to see this movie but most posters say it is quite good.

Would it be posible for some members here who have seen this movie to go over to the IMDB and post a review on it, as at this moment in time there are only 9 reviews which is most disappointing.

Thanks
Robbie
:agent:

Hi,

this weeks, Movie of the Week

Let's have your discussion and comments please.

One of my favourites, not a bad story, but what really make the movie great are the magic moments between Wayne and Gail Russell, and then the frightening change capt. Ralls goes through. Duke meets his inner demons in the Red Witch no worse than later in Red River.
Do you see how Duke simply melts by Gail's touch and look? Pity they did only two movies together.

Hi all,
I place this movie rather high amoung Duke and his Captain Rolls is sure unforgettable. Even if it is someting not logical in the script, but for me it is sure romantic movie and in the romantic stories are always not so clear story line.

It was much written about chemistry between Gail and Duke, it always impresses me with some kind of sadness about their real stories and storie in the film, it somehow resembles each other to me. And Chata was so bad, and the worst wife for Duke! And she influence their relationship. Not fear.

I was surprised how little this film was descussed here, I remember other topics were it was compared with film noir and even with Big Jim MacLain. May be it will be reasonable to put here a link to these previos descussions.

As for comparisson with Reap Wild Wind - I like The Wake much more. I don't like Duke's hero in Reap Wild winds much, I don't think that his charecter have dark side, he made some foolish mistakes in his life - thats all. Captain Rolls is quite different - his steps can't be explained so easily. It seems he tryes to fight his own demons.

And one last note. I always loved vessels, expecially clippers, read many stories about tea clippers and their races when I was child. And this movie brought back to me this athmosphere of sea and a real beauty of sailing vessel.

Regards,
Senta :rolleyes:

Hi

Still one of my favourite pictures, and I think a pivotal role in the career of John Wayne.
I have a plate from the Republic series of film plates. Although not exactly the same as the plate this black and white picture should give you some idea of what the plate looks like

http://www.dukewayne.com/imagehosting/thum_22545bb6ebaa28ac.jpg (http://www.dukewayne.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=166)

Regards

Arthur

Duke must have liked this film a little considering he named his production company after the shipping establishment in the film.

As of this date I still havent seen the movie but I will look forward to it as I enjoy Duke playing dark characters.

I know we've had some conversation regarding the differences and similarities between this film and Reap the Wild Wind, but I will need to watch this one again before I can comment on it.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy seeing this theater poster. Hm-m-m, the Mrs. says John Wayne looks a little more "buff" than she remembers ever seeing him :stunned:.

Chester :newyear:

Hi

A nice poster and one of my favourites. Also one that is very very similar but with subtle differences.


Regards

Arthur

I thought this was a good movie. A very interesting story telling device, the way they had the story stop for such a long flashback then move forward a bit, then do another flashback. Also notable as one of the few movies in which JW's character dies. The end scene with the ghost ship flying away was both cheesy and kinda nice, I thought. And the special effects in the rest of the film were very decent, the octopus was good and the wreck of the Red Witch was well done as well.

I bought this one a few months ago but when I started to watch it couldn't get into it(blame it to too tired and not able to fix on the english(no subtitles)) so I left it for a while and finally watched it last weekend.I loved it!The ending was sublime,never could've thought that a John Wayne film could end like that.I wonder if the people who make the Pirates films have watched this one?
It took ages for Gail to appear in the film but when she was...WOW I was blown away by the chemistry which of ofcourse we had seen before in Angel and the Badman.How they filmed the scene when she died...heartbreaking that was.
I don't think that Captain Ralls was a bad person he just made some-not so good-choices in his life that made other people say he was no good but in his heart he was a nice person or he couldn't have loved Angelique as he did.
This one joins a couple of long time favourites for me!

Always a film I was disappointed with but I must give it another try.

Mike

Hello everyone

March,25,1974, When Duke visited Japan for MacQ campaign.
He point out Wake of the Red Witch was romantic movie.to the japanese journalist's
question "Do you want to take a role of romantic love story?"

Waoh! Wake of the Red Witch?
In U.S.A. What esitimation for that movie and an actress Gail Russel too?

althougu she had a pretty popurality in japan, because her beauty was japanese like.

best regards sanada

I've never seen this one either but, BOY, I sure love the artwork on the posters! :thumbs_up: :thumbs_up: :thumbs_up: :thumbs_up: :thumbs_up:

Here is an example of the book. Enjoy!

Mark

http://www.dukewayne.com/imagehosting/2147fb84d338110.jpg

makes me want to go sailing again

Mark, I am assuming you have read the book.

How does it compare to the movie? How closely does the movie stay with the book? Is the book better than the movie, as is usually the case?

Chester :newyear:

It's kind of close with some things being different, Jim. The characters are all there. You learn alot more about Sydney than you do in the film, and actually don't dislike him as much. Angelique is still the woman both men want. It goes into alot of details that the movie couldn't. I could go into more, but then I would ruin it for anyone who wants to read it. And I'm going to read it again someday. One thing I like about myself is that I have a lousy memory. It drives my wife nuts, but I can pick up a book I've read befor and enjoy it all over again, because I've forgotten some of the storyline. :teeth_smile:

But to answer your question, it is alot like the movie.

Mark

first time i've seen this film and i really got into it. i thought it was pretty good

I recently watched Wake of the Red Witch myself. It starts really well and there are elements of the Tom Dunson Red River character in John Wayne's portrayal. I felt the ending was a bit weak but as you say the story does hold you.

I thought the ending was ok and all in all a good film

I have seen this film, but it has been a long time. Time to dig out the DVD and watch Wake of the Red Witch again. I do remember it being quite good and high on my list of favorites....hmmm, well if it is there, I am glad for reminders on this site of a good Duke film to sit down and watch.

Roger.

Hi

Along with reap The Wild Wind, Wake of the red Witch is in my all time top half dozen pictures.

Some time earlier we had a long discussion about wether the film can be classed as an authentic film noir and I argued that it was and is the only film of its kind that Wayne made.

I also made the point that no matter how good a director John Ford was to see Ethan Edwards go back to Thomas Dunsen and Captain Rawles.

The point that in the book Sidneye is portrayed as a sympathetic figure I believe this comes out in the film. If you are the owner of a ship like the Red Witch and have a beautiful wife like Gail Russell, you might well plot and plan to get revenge. but I believe there was a mutual respect between the two men.

Regards

Arthur

i liked this film - i was surprised it was 1948 as i would have dated it earlier - a lot of it reminded me of the bob hope/ bing crosby " road to" films in its format.
the chemistry between gail russell and john wayne was fantastic and i liked the ending too

http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/330/wakeo12.jpg (http://img192.imageshack.us/i/wakeo12.jpg/)

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It was OK, didn't do much for me.

http://i47.servimg.com/u/f47/11/97/59/03/a_duk662.jpg (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=9107&u=11975903)