That was an excellent one.

Sorry, this movie sucks

Absolutely Brilliant!

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

"Hurricane." An interesting word with curious features, borrowed and mangled by the Spanish from the Arawak Indians of the Caribbean who, in turn, had borrowed it from the Mayan god of storms, Huracán. He must have been even meaner than Yahweh, who was at least more discriminating in his deployment of destruction.Richard Widmark is Slattery, the pilot who flies his Grumman Goose into the storm and muses about his life course. He's pretty mean too. The film open with Widmark preparing to take the seaplane out and beating hell out of the well-meaning guy who tries to stop him.Another guy who gets belted, John Russell, is an old friend of Widmark's from their days as naval aviators during the war. Russell is still in the service while Widmark has become a civilian pilot for a Florida magnate who imports and exports "chocolate". (Read "drugs".) Widmark's girl friend, Veronica Lake, works as the magnate's secretary. Both of them live on the estate. Something just occurs to me -- what is a "magnate" anyway? The plot is a little twisted at this point, and gets moreso. When Russell and Widmark first bump into one another in Florida, Russell introduces his wife, Linda Darnell. We discover, while Russell and Lake are dancing, that Widmark and Darnell had been lovers in San Diego. The expository dialog is painfully deadening. "We didn't just split up -- you walked out on me." "I left YOU? How do you think I felt?" Neither Russell nor Lake know about this earlier liaison. Widmark is so mean that, old friendship notwithstanding, he puts moves on Darnell and succeeds.The noirish interior monologue by Widmark lacks any poetry. Mostly, he rebukes himself abundantly. "Oh, brother, you got just what you asked for, didn't you. Well, didn't you? DIDN'T YOU?" At any rate, we get to like John Russell, a typical standard Navy officer, cheerful, competent, uncomprehending of women. And there's an adrenalin thrill when Widmark takes Russell up for a check flight in that Grumman Goose. Widmark shuts off one engine and flies it around in a steep bank, while Russell checks out the manifold pressure and so forth. The two of them are grinning like kids. Russell flies a Privateer for the Navy, a modified B-24. I flew in one too, in the Coast Guard, and the pilot also shut down an engine over the Pacific. I didn't care for the flight.It's a complex role for Widmark. He's neither the unmitigated sadist of "Kiss of Death" nor the tireless promoter of the public weal, as in "Panic in the Streets." He must be strong in the wrong ways and weak in the good ways until he develops a moral spine. It must be difficult to play a drunk in the movies because Widmark is a competent actor but he can't handle a drunk scene believably. I was a magnificent drunk in two scenes in the much underrated art house classic, "Too Young The Hero." Lee Marvin does a good drunk too. Not Widmark. And Richard Egan and Doris Day were embarrassing to watch when they had drunk scenes.Veronica Lake is not the diminutive femme of ten years earlier. Her features are slightly more pronounced and they look ready to express some subtle emotion but they never get around to it. Linda Darnell looks fine.It's not a bad film. The romantic drama turns the story more sluggish than it ought to be, but, as in Herman Wouk's "The Caine Mutiny," the romance merely reflects the development of the protagonist's character. The business of flying and dealing with storms is fun.

Slattery's Hurricane has Richard Widmark as a former Navy Pilot who know is a private pilot for Joe DeSantis who is a narcotics smuggler. Widmark does not look too hard at what he's doing nor at the characters around DeSantis. One reason he's hanging around is because of Veronica Lake who is the 'secretary' to DeSantis. By the way DeSantis says he's a candy manufacturer.All that changes when Widmark meets up with John Russell and his new wife Linda Darnell. Widmark and Darnell have history which Russell doesn't know about and history starts to repeat itself. Which makes Lake unhappy because she has a real thing for Widmark.This film was Widmark's second with first billing. The film was directed by Andre DeToth who was married to Veronica Lake at the time. This was Lake's loan out film from Paramount to 20th Century Fox and as it wasn't her studio, Fox gave Widmark and Darnell their stars billing over Lake. DeToth however gave his wife the best scenes and Lake does perform admirably. This film would also be the one in which she walked away from Hollywood after.It was rather obvious that Widmark was supposed to die in this film, yet the studio cheapened it to allow a happily ever after film. Sadly that decision drops Slattery's Hurricane into a list of mediocre films, not the best for any of the principal players involved.

Richard Widmark flies into what becomes known as "Slattery's Hurricane" as he looks back on his life in this 1949 film. Directed by Andre de Toth, the film also stars Linda Darnell, John Russell and DeToth's wife, Veronica Lake.Widmark plays Slattery, a former Navy man who, with his girlfriend Delores (Lake), works for drug smugglers. Slattery is unaware of this, though subconsciously he probably knows, but Delores, an addict, knows everything. (Delores' addiction is only hinted at.) When Slattery meets an old Navy friend, Hobbie (John Russell), he finds out that Hobbie married his former love, Aggie (Darnell). Though Delores is in love with Slattery, Slattery is still in love with Aggie and goes after her, not caring about Delores' feelings or Hobbie's marriage. When a hurricane hits, Hobbie is called in for pilot duty so he can get the hurricane coordinates, but he's too drunk to fly. Slattery takes his place, and while flying through the storm, looks at his mess of a life.This isn't a particularly good film, but Richard Widmark does a great job, creating a fully fleshed-out character. It's impossible to believe that Lake, her signature haircut gone, was only 27 when this film was made. I would have guessed she was 40. Even with her husband directing the movie, she's not well photographed. It's a shame, because the petite actress was perfect for films, radiant, beautiful, with a great presence; no matter the role, she projected an intelligence and femininity. She just doesn't register here. The gorgeous Darnell has very little to do.All in all, mediocre, but worth it for Widmark.

Lt. Willard Francis Slattery {Richard Widmark}, a former Navy pilot, is in control of this Grumman Mallard Aeroplane. He's flying right into the centre of a storm, a ferocious storm gathering momentum, here Slattery reviews his latter day life.Slattery's Hurricane is directed by André De Toth and also stars Linda Darnell, Veronica Lake, John Russell and Gary Merill. It's based around a story written by Herman Wouk, and it's with Wouk that the interesting back story to the film belongs. Herman Wouk was of course the writer of Pulitzer Prize winning novel-The Caine Mutiny {also made into a fabulous film starring Humphrey Bogart}. It was while Wouk was researching weather data for "Mutiny" that he got the genesis for Slattery's Hurricane. Pitching it to 20th Century Fox, he got the go ahead for a screenplay, and feeling inspired he turned his short story into a fully fledged book.Adapted by Richard Murphy, Slattery's Hurricane is a real good film stopped from being a great one due to the inevitable interference from the Production Code Administartion. Research into the film, and those who know the novel, shows the story to be a spiky one about adultery, drug smuggling and drug addiction, with closely formed characterisations leading the way. The observant will spot these things in the film anyway, but the toning down leaves us with a more melodramatic picture than a sharply dark one that the story deserved. However, it's with much credit to De Toth and his cast that the film is still an engrossing mood piece set around the birth of a raging hurricane, a hurricane that is not just of the storm itself, but of the emotional state of Will Slattery too. Grim nature and the troubled human condition dovetailing to create our finale of Slattery's Hurricane.Richard Widmark is good value {wasn't he always?} as the lead protagonist, mean, moody and even menacing in his selfishness, Slattery called for an actor capable of blending emotional layers. The studio had wanted Tyrone Power for the role {perhaps showing the high hopes they had for the film?}, but they got Widmark instead, who rewards them {and us} with yet another memorable performance. Linda Darnell, softly spoken, sexy and exuding a femme fatale sheen, does well with what is a surprisingly underwritten part, tho we can probably thank {not!} the PCA for that issue. Veronica Lake, then married to director De Toth, had hoped for the film to signal a comeback for her faltering career, it wasn't to be, and that's sad because she's really rather great here. Heartfelt and giving the story a crucial counter point edge to Widmark's unfolding state, Lake served notice that she still had some quality to offer cinema. John Russell and Gary Merrill {whose opening narration sets the tone} do what is needed, but rightly play second fiddle to the three principals.It could have done with better villains than the portrayals given by Walter Kingsford and Joe De Santis, but Slattery's Huricane remains a fine movie begging to be seen by more people. Still not given a DVD release and rarely shown on television, it's a film that if you get a chance to see it then you should grab that opportunity with both hands. 7/10