Reap the Wild Wind

"Cecil B. DeMille's GREATEST TRIUMPH! OUT-THRILLS ALL OTHER SCREEN SPECTACLES!"

1942 1h 59m EN

😐

6.4

MID

★6.4TMDB · 65

AdventureActionRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The Florida Keys in 1840, where the implacable hurricanes of the Caribbean scream, where the salvagers of Key West, like the intrepid and beautiful Loxi Claiborne and her crew, reap, aboard frail schooners, the harvest of the wild wind, facing the shark teeth of the reefs to rescue the sailors and the cargo from the shipwrecks caused by the scavengers of the sea.

“Cecil B. DeMille's GREATEST TRIUMPH! OUT-THRILLS ALL OTHER SCREEN SPECTACLES!”

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Where to watch · US

Cast

Paulette Goddard
Loxi Claiborne
Ray Milland
Stephen Tolliver
John Wayne
Captain Jack Stuart
Raymond Massey
King Cutler
Robert Preston
Dan Cutler
Lynne Overman
Captain Phillip Philpott
Susan Hayward
Drusilla Alston
Charles Bickford
Mate of the 'Tyfib'

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Writers: Thelma Strabel, Alan Le May, Charles Bennett
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

84 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Cecil B. DeMille, shot by William V. Skall. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Victor Young. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Anne Bauchens shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Paulette Goddard and Ray Milland and John Wayne carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Cecil B. DeMille's GREATEST TRIUMPH! OUT-THRILLS ALL OTHER SCREEN SPECTACLES!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0035244 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 65 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Cecil B. DeMille directs. William V. Skall behind the camera. Victor Young scores. Anne Bauchens cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

184 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Cecil B. DeMille, shot by William V. Skall. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Victor Young. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Anne Bauchens shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Paulette Goddard and Ray Milland and John Wayne carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Cecil B. DeMille's GREATEST TRIUMPH! OUT-THRILLS ALL OTHER SCREEN SPECTACLES!".
7IMDB entry: tt0035244 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 65 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
9Classified under 8 themes, including "shipwreck", "florida keys", "romantic rivalry", "clipper ship".
10Released under 15 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: William V. Skall
Original score: Victor Young
Editing: Anne Bauchens
Costume design: Natalie Visart
Makeup / hair: Wally Westmore
Runtime: 119 min · 1h 59m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Reap the Wild Wind (1942)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Special Effects

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Cecil B. DeMille

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2020-05-16
★ 7/10
Ripping Yarns! Reap the Wild Wind is directed by Cecil B. DeMille and is adapted collectively to screenplay by Alan Le May, Charles Bennett and Jesse Lasky Jr. from a Saturday Evening Post story written by Thelma Strabel. It stars John Wayne, Ray Milland, Paulette Goddard, Raymond Massey, Robert Preston, Susan Hayward and Lynne Overman. Music is by Victor Young and cinematography is shared between Victor Milner and William V. Skall. The Florida Keys in the 1840s, hurricanes are rife and the salvagers of Key West rush to the frail schooners to claim salvage rights... Whilst not up with the best of DeMille's epics, this is however a joyous romp of a high seas adventure. A top notch cast line up for some period flavours that is unfurled in glorious over saturated Technicolor. We have a rocky love triangle, dastardly villains with dishonesty poring from every bead of sweat, sword play, fisticuffs, fogs and a giant squid! and it even has time to be a court room drama as well. In short it is a ripping sea faring yarn. The budget was considerable and DeMille ensures it was lavishly spent, and thus the pic was a box office winner and an Academy Award Winner for special effects. It's a touch too long, and gets a little bogged down in the mid-section, but entering the home straight it pulls itself back up and ends briskly, with Duke Wayne splendidly rounding off an interesting characterisation. 7/10
CinemaSerf2022-06-26
★ 6/10
The last twenty minutes or so go some way to redeeming this otherwise rather meandering romantic drama that has a cast that looks good on paper but is much less effective on screen. John Wayne ("Jack Stuart") is the captain who has just lost his ship after it was wrecked on a dangerous reef by men allegedly working for Raymond Massey ("King Cutler"). His boss Walter Hampden ("Commodore Devereaux") is less than impressed and Duke is demoted and ordered to take Ray Milland ("Tolliver") to Key West. Meantime, the feisty Paulette Goddard ("Loxi") who is all but engaged to "Stuart" arrives on the scene and straight onto Milland's radar... Now Wayne has got to prove his ship was deliberately sunk and keep his girl from his duplicitous rival. The story is pretty procedural and lame, to be honest - Goddard brings some charm to the film, but Milland (and his ventriloquist doggy act) gets a bit wearisome after a while and neither Wayne nor the usually sinister Massey are anywhere near their best. It features some good underwater antics towards the conclusion but the story is just a bit too weak and predictable. Colourful, though...and it's got a monkey!