Bird of Paradise
About Bird of Paradise
Johnny Baker goes overboard after a shark and Luana, a chief's daughter, cuts him free. She is promised to a prince on another island. He takes her out of a fire dance and they live in a thatched house until her home volcano erupts. She goes back to be thrown in. His friends cut them loose and get them to the yacht. She leaves him and walks into the volcano.
Cast & crew
More about Bird of Paradise
King Vidor directed and produced with David O. Selznick. Wells Root, Wanda Tuchock, and Leonard Praskins wrote it from Richard Walton Tully's 1912 play. Lucien Andriot and Clyde De Vinna photographed. Max Steiner composed. Archie Marshek edited. RKO released it on August 12, 1932. Dolores del Río plays Luana. Joel McCrea plays Johnny. John Halliday, Richard Gallagher, and Lon Chaney Jr. are billed. A pre-Code picture. The copyright was not renewed, and it entered the U.S. public domain in 1960. A copy is on the Internet Archive as Bird_of_Paradise_1932.
Themes
Look
Lucien Andriot and Clyde De Vinna shot the island and the volcano.
Music
Max Steiner composed the score.
Preservation
In the U.S. public domain since 1960, after the copyright was not renewed.
Notes
- She saves him by cutting the shark line, not by a dive for show.
- The yacht leaves him on the island. The friends come back later.
- Chaney Jr. is billed as Creighton Chaney.
- The 1960 public-domain date is the missed renewal, not a new release.
Scenes
- Luana cuts the line and pulls Johnny clear of the shark.
- She leaves the yacht and goes to the volcano.
Influenced by
- Richard Walton Tully's play The Bird of Paradise (1912)
Also available
- Internet Archive (Bird_of_Paradise_1932)
