Editing Reap the Wild Wind

{{short description|1942 adventure color film made in USA}}
{{About|the film|the Ultravox song|Reap the Wild Wind (song)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{more citations needed|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Reap the Wild Wind
| image          = Reap the Wild Wind.jpg
| caption        = Poster reversing Wayne and Milland's billing
| director       = [[Cecil B. DeMille]]
| producer       = Cecil B. DeMille
| writer         = 
| based_on       = {{based on|''Reap the Wild Wind''|[[Thelma Strabel]]}}
| screenplay     = [[Charles Bennett (screenwriter)|Charles Bennett]]<br>[[Jesse Lasky, Jr.]]<br>[[Alan Le May]]<br>[[Jeanie MacPherson]]
| starring       = [[Ray Milland]]<br>[[John Wayne]]<br>[[Paulette Goddard]]
| music          = [[Victor Young]]
| cinematography = [[Victor Milner]]<br>[[William Skall]]
| editing        = [[Anne Bauchens]]
| color_process  = [[Technicolor]]
| studio         = Paramount Pictures
| distributor    = [[Paramount Pictures]]
| released       = {{film date|1942|3|18}}
| runtime        = 123 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = 
| gross          = $4 million (US/ Canada rentals) <ref>"All-Time Top Grossers", ''Variety'', 8 January 1964 p 69</ref>
}}

'''''Reap the Wild Wind''''' is a 1942 American [[adventure film]] produced and directed by [[Cecil B. DeMille]] and starring [[Ray Milland]], [[John Wayne]], and [[Paulette Goddard]], with a supporting cast featuring [[Raymond Massey]], [[Robert Preston (actor)|Robert Preston]], [[Lynne Overman]], [[Susan Hayward]] and [[Charles Bickford]]. DeMille's second [[Technicolor]] production, the film is based on a serialized story written by [[Thelma Strabel]] in 1940 for ''[[The Saturday Evening Post]]''. The screenplay was written by [[Alan Le May]] (author of the [[novel]] ''[[The Searchers]]''), [[Charles Bennett (screenwriter)|Charles Bennett]], [[Jesse Lasky, Jr.]] and [[Jeanie MacPherson]].

While he based his film on Strabel's story, set in the 1840s along the [[Florida]] coast, DeMille took liberties with details such as sibling relationships and subplots, while staying true to the spirit of the story, which centers on the headstrong, independent woman portrayed by Goddard.

Released shortly after the United States' entry into [[World War II]], ''Reap the Wild Wind'' was wildly successful at the box office and earned three [[Academy Award]] nominations, winning for [[Academy Award for Best Visual Effects|Best Special Effects]].

==Plot==
In 1840, Loxi Claiborne is running a [[marine salvage]] business started by her deceased father. A [[hurricane]] is passing through the [[Key West]] area, leaving behind at least one wreck on the nearby [[shoal]]s. The ''Jubilee'' founders, and Loxi and other salvagers race to claim the cargo. Not arriving first, Loxi and her crew rescue the captain, Jack Stuart, but do not share in the salvage rights. Apparently, the first salvager on the scene, King Cutler, may have actually planned the wreck.
[[File:John Wayne and Paulette Goddard in Reap the Wild Wind trailer.jpg|left|thumb|[[John Wayne]] and [[Paulette Goddard]]]]
Nursing Jack back to health, Loxi falls in love with him. When she visits [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]] with her cousin Drusilla, Loxi schemes to win a plum captain's position for Jack by seducing Steve Tolliver, who is running the [[sailing ship]] line for which Jack works. Steve falls for Loxi and returns with her to Key West to investigate the truth about Jack's shipwreck.

Drusilla goes home to [[Havana]] when Loxi and Steve return to Key West. Steve has come to rid the [[Florida Keys|Keys]] of [[pirate]]s like Cutler (and to be near Loxi). Cutler, in turn, arranges to have Steve [[Shanghaiing|shanghaied]] by the crew of a [[whaler]]. Loxi hears of the plot and gets Jack to help her save Steve. Later, they discover that Steve has concealed Jack's appointment to the [[steamship]] ''Southern Cross'' on orders from his superior. Angry over a seemingly underhanded act, Jack meets with Cutler. He learns that Steve's boss has just died and that Steve will be taking over the [[shipping line]]. Jack realizes that he is unlikely to keep his command with Steve in charge and agrees to work with Cutler to sabotage his new ship; he sails to Havana to take command.
[[File:Paulette Goddard and Ray Milland in Reap the Wild Wind trailer.jpg|left|thumb|[[Paulette Goddard]] and [[Ray Milland]]]]
Rumors circulate and prices of the cargo of the ''Southern Cross'' fluctuate wildly, leaving Steve to suspect a wreck is planned. He commandeers the ''Claiborne'' with Loxi on board and heads to Havana to stop Jack. Loxi, believing Jack is innocent, disables her ship, and they sit becalmed in a fog bank as the ''Southern Cross'' piles into a [[reef]] and sinks. Unknown to Jack, Drusilla had stowed away to be with her lover, King Cutler's brother Dan, and she drowns.

Jack is put on trial for wrecking his ship. The testimony reveals a woman may have been on board, though none was rescued. To determine if a woman is in the wreck, Steve agrees to [[Underwater diving|dive]] to the wreck with Jack. While down in the wreck, Jack and Steve discover proof that Drusilla was on board and has been drowned. They are attacked by a [[giant squid]]. Jack saves Steve's life, but is lost when the ''Southern Cross'' slips off the [[continental shelf]] into deep water. Dan Cutler accuses his brother of murder and is shot dead by him, whereupon, Steve shoots King Cutler, killing him.

Loxi and Steve return to Charleston together.

==Cast==
{{multiple image
 | align = right
 | direction = vertical
 | width = 150
 | header = 
 | image1 = Ray Milland, Paulette Goddard, and John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind trailer.jpg
 | caption1 = Ray Milland, Paulette Goddard, and John Wayne
 | image2 = Raymond Massey in Reap the Wild Wind trailer.jpg
 | caption2 = Raymond Massey (left)
 | image3 = Lynne Overman in Reap the Wild Wind trailer.jpg
 | caption3 = Lynne Overman
 | image4 = Susan Hayward and Robert Preston in Reap the Wild Wind trailer.jpg
 | caption4 = Susan Hayward and Robert Preston
 | image5 = Louise Beavers in Reap the Wild Wind trailer.jpg
 | caption5 = Louise Beavers
 | image6 = Martha O'Driscoll in Reap the Wild Wind trailer.jpg
 | caption6 = Martha O'Driscoll
 | image7 = John Wayne Reap The Wild Wind.jpg
 | caption7 = John Wayne
 | image8 = John Wayne Reap The Wild Wind 2.jpg
 | caption8 = Jack (John Wayne) prepares to dive    
}}
* [[Ray Milland]] as Steven Tolliver
* [[John Wayne]] as Jack Stuart
* [[Paulette Goddard]] as Loxi Claiborne
* [[Raymond Massey]] as King Cutler
* [[Robert Preston (actor)|Robert Preston]] as Dan Cutler
* [[Lynne Overman]] as Captain Philpott
* [[Susan Hayward]] as Drusilla Alston
* [[Milburn Stone]] as [[David Farragut|Lieutenant Farragut]] 
* [[Charles Bickford]] as Bully Brown
* [[Walter Hampden]] as Commodore Devereaux
* [[Louise Beavers]] as Maum Maria, the Claiborne Maid
* [[Martha O'Driscoll]] as Ivy Devereaux
* [[Elisabeth Risdon]] as Mrs. Claiborne
* [[Hedda Hopper]] as Aunt Henrietta Beresford
* [[Victor Kilian]] as Mathias Widgeon
* [[Oscar Polk]] as Salt Meat
* [[Raymond Hatton]] as Master Shipwright 
* [[Lane Chandler]] as Sam 
* [[William "Wee Willie" Davis]] as The Lamb
* [[Ben Carter (actor)|Ben Carter]] as Chinkapin
* [[Janet Beecher]] as Mrs. Mottram 
* Dave Wengren as 'Claiborne' Lookout 
* Davison Clark as Judge Marvin 
* Louis Merrill as Captain of the 'Pelican'
* [[Frank M. Thomas]] as Dr. Jepson 
* [[Victor Varconi]] as Lubbock 
* Sue Thomas as Belle at Ball
* [[James Dime]] as a spongeboat crewman<ref>{{cite book |last=Freese |first=Gene Scott |title=Hollywood Stunt Performers, 1910s-1970s: A Biographical Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=10dXAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA75 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |edition=2nd |date=April 10, 2014 |page=75 |isbn=9780786476435}}</ref>
* [[Cecil B. DeMille]] as Narrator (uncredited)

==Production==
The film is unusual among films starring John Wayne since it is one of relatively few films in which he plays a character with a notable dark side, as well as accepting second billing under Milland. Wayne subsequently starred in a 1948 seafaring adventure titled ''[[Wake of the Red Witch]]'' which had numerous similarities to ''Reap the Wild Wind'', including Wayne's portrayal of an even darker character.

This film also marks the final appearance by [[Hedda Hopper]] as an actress in a significant role.  The [[gossip columnist]] would, however, make [[cameo appearances]] in subsequent films.

Los Angeles architect [[William Pereira]] designed special effects for this film. Pereira, newly arrived from Chicago, had a brief stint as a Hollywood set designer and engineer prior to becoming a professor at the [[University of Southern California]] and later co-founding the architecture firm of [[Pereira & Luckman]].

==Awards and nominations==
{| class="wikitable"
|+ 
|-
! Award !! Category !! Recipient(s) !! Result
|-
| rowspan="3"|[[Academy Award]]<ref name="Oscars1943">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1943 |title=The 15th Academy Awards (1943) Nominees and Winners |access-date=2013-06-22 |work=oscars.org}}</ref>
| [[Academy Award for Best Production Design|Best Art Direction]]
| [[Hans Dreier]], [[Roland Anderson]], [[George Sawley]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]]
| [[Victor Milner]], [[William V. Skall]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Visual Effects|Best Special Effects]]
| [[Farciot Edouart]], [[Gordon Jennings]], [[William Pereira]], [[Louis Mesenkop]]
| {{won}}
|-
| rowspan="2"|''[[Film Daily]]'' Filmdom's Famous Five Award<ref>{{cite journal |title=Filmdom's Famous Fives: Screen's Greatest Elected by the Reviewers of the Nation |journal=The Film Daily |date=December 22, 1942 |volume=82 |issue=120 |page=8}}</ref>
| Top Five Directors
| [[Cecil B. DeMille]]
| {{won|3rd place}}
|-
| Top Five Cameramen
| [[Victor Milner]]
| {{won|3rd place}}
|}

==See also==
* [[John Wayne filmography]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{IMDb title|id=0035244|title=Reap the Wild Wind}}
* {{tcmdb title|id=4375|title=Reap the Wild Wind}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050323190843/http://www.whidbey.net/mvg/reap.htm Comparison of novel and film]

{{Cecil B. DeMille}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reap The Wild Wind}}
[[Category:1942 films]]
[[Category:1940s adventure drama films]]
[[Category:American adventure drama films]]
[[Category:Seafaring films]]
[[Category:Films set in Florida]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1840s]]
[[Category:Films that won the Best Visual Effects Academy Award]]
[[Category:Paramount Pictures films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Cecil B. DeMille]]
[[Category:Films scored by Victor Young]]
[[Category:1940s English-language films]]
[[Category:1940s American films]]
[[Category:English-language adventure drama films]]