You won't be disappointed!

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Based on Edison Marshall's 1941 novel entitled "Benjamin Blake," 1942's "Son of Fury" is a rip-roaring swashbuckler that features nary a single sword fight, despite taking place during the reign of George III (that would be between 1760 and 1820); there ARE several instances of most impressive fisticuffs, however. In the film, we meet young Benjamin, played with wide-eyed appeal by the 13-year-old Roddy McDowall. Suspected of being illegitimate in birth, Benjamin lives with his kindly gunsmith grandfather (Harry Davenport) until the fateful day when his cruel uncle, Sir Arthur (the typically excellent George Sanders), fetches him to Breetholm Manor and, fearing that Benjamin will one day be able to prove his ancestry and claim his inheritance, makes him a stable boy. Benjamin grows up to be a handsome young man, and now, as played by Tyrone Power (riding high on the success of 1940's "The Mark of Zorro"), after several violent turns with his uncle, flees to Polynesia to make his fortune. Entering into a pearl-diving endeavor with fellow sailor Caleb Green (an untypically likable John Carradine), he makes his pile, falls in love with a beautiful native girl who he dubs Eve (Gene Tierney, in her seventh film), and returns to Bristol to claim what is his. But many surprises await him on his return...."Son of Fury" is a marvelous adventure film, given the A-list treatment by 20th Century Fox. It features handsome production values, rugged direction by John Cromwell (father of modern-day actor James), and a beautiful score by Alfred Newman. Acting by one and all is first rate, including Frances Farmer (as Benjamin's bitchy cousin) and Elsa Lanchester (as a barmaid who helps Ben escape from the law). Tyrone and Gene make a wonderfully romantic pair in this, their first teaming; they would go on to appear together in 1946's "The Razor's Edge" and 1948's "That Wonderful Urge." Gene's many fans should enjoy the awesome sight of her doing a convincing, hip-shaking, hulalike dance in this film; she does manage to convince as a Polynesian, with only a few dozen lines of broken English (still, more than the six lines of dialogue she had in her third film, "Tobacco Road"). She is simply gorgeous here, and when Tyrone takes her to wife at one point and declares "No bride was ever more beautiful," the viewer is not inclined to argue. In her 1979 autobiography "Self-Portrait," Gene tells us that the film shoot on "Son of Fury" exposed her to mental illness for the first time; not her own (that would come over a decade later), but rather in her costar Farmer, who was just starting to evince symptoms and would be institutionalized two years later (and stay in mental hospitals for a good eight years). One would never know it, though, based on Farmer's fine work in this film. Actually, though, every single aspect of this film is just perfect; I just loved it from beginning to end. And at that end, in which every character gets precisely what he or she deserves, the viewer will likely feel inclined to stand up and cheer. Without giving away too much, let me just say that those who have seen such marvelous entertainments as "Dodsworth" and "Dark Passage" might know the type of crowd-pleasing final scene that is in store for them. "Here is rousing, robust, romantic entertainment," the trailer for "Son of Fury" proclaimed, and I could not agree more. Watch it alone or with the entire family; it is a perfect film for adventure-loving guys, romance-seeking ladies, and kiddies of all ages. More than highly recommended.

I enjoyed this film a lot -- Tyrone Power is absolutely in top form in the role of the title character, Benjamin Blake, a man robbed of his inheritance and accused of being a bastard by his father's brother, the villainous Sir Arthur Blake as performed in high style by George Sanders. From the very first scenes there's this strong animal quality to Sanders, who's depicted as an expert fistfighter and an extreme sadist. Power insists on maintaining his dignity throughout being treated by his uncle as a slave, but the movie loses me a bit when he falls in love with his uncle's daughter, who after all would be his first cousin. She's pretty much obviously worthless in the first place. Frances Farmer was handed the unenviable role and she does a good job with it. Gene Tierney is the real love interest in the film, somewhat ridiculously cast as a native island beauty. Tierney isn't much of an actress but this is one of those fortunate roles where she doesn't really have to -- she just lets her fantastic chemistry with Power do the talking for her. They even let her have the first half of the movie as a silent role essentially since her character can't speak English, and it does wonders for her.The movie's just stuffed full of fantastic character actors. Dean Stockwell plays the young Benjamin. Elsa Lanchester appears in an interesting early bit as a prostitute with a sense of pride. John Carradine has a fun appearance as the man who jumps ship with Power and dives for pearls on the island. Carradine looks awesome in the sailor costume, and he brings a world of pathos to this film, really convincing us that once he's discovered the island and the simple joys of life that he no longer wants to go back to civilization and be wealthy within the structures of that unjust society. Blake under the influence of the same kind of impulse as his friend comes back to society changed not only in the status of his wealth but in the diversity of his perspective. And happily, this makes the eventual conclusion seem fitting instead of contrived or convenient.John Cromwell's directing is nice for the way he frames every scene very firmly within its social or environmental setting. Like in the ballroom scene where Power woos Farmer, which represents his desire for the aristocratic lifestyle, the frame is full of ornament and movement when first we open and focuses on the intrusive figure of Power in his masquerade coming onto the scene. It's a very good movie, but if I had any complaint it would be to the lack of moral ambiguity of any kind of Power's character. There should have been more of an edge to his anger and his desire for vengeance, and that would have made his lust for the Farmer character more believable and the contrast between his younger and older selves more marked. But the movie has an agenda to present Power as a hero throughout the entire film, which damages the possibility for interesting character development. Power himself is capable of much more subtle acting, but he's also good enough or competent enough to basically drop such pretense in a film like this and lean on his strong charisma and presence to carry the film.

There are some films that can be described very well using words. This one cannot. It must be seen and even more than that, experienced. It offers a bit of Dickens, a bit of Dumas and certainly is built upon one old fashioned cliché after another but all that truly doesn't matter one whit. This film, all in all, taken as a whole, is like a wonderful painting or even more enjoyable dream. It is touched with sadness because, apart from the plot, we know that there is sadness ahead for all of the principal actors but even so, what a pleasure in seeing those faces and hearing those voices is gained with every viewing. One final thing, thank you Mr. Pratt for redeeming the reputation of lawyers everywhere.

This is a pretty entertaining film that works pretty well due to decent writing and an excellent villain in the form of George Sanders. The film begins with a young boy being forcibly taken from his loving grandfather and the boy is made a stable boy for a rich baronet. It seems that this rich guy (Sanders) is actually the kid's uncle but instead of being kind, he treats the kid like dirt. The reasons are because the uncle wants to keep the family fortune for himself AND because something about his dead brother and his wife bother him so intensely that he wants to make their child's life hell. The boy is played by Roddy McDowell, but after the first 15 minutes or so, he is "Hollywood aged" and is played by Tyrone Power. Power is very good in the film, but a few macho scenes didn't seem all that plausible--especially after seeing his rather scrawny frame once he took his shirt off part-way through the film.Well, Power cannot stay at the manor to take the abuse forever, especially since the uncle seems intent on eventually killing him--beating him savagely and making up a story that Power attacked and tried to kill him! So, he runs off to sea and meets up with a friend, John Carradine --in one of his non-crazy or monster roles. Together they plan to jump ship, make their fortunes and return to England. Well, all this DOESN'T go exactly as planned and Power meets a beautiful native girl played pretty convincingly by Gene Tierney. What happens next I really don't want to divulge--it would spoil the film's many surprises. However, the film does have many twists and surprises--especially at the end and enough that it elevates this film above the norm and makes it very watchable--nearly earning it a score of 8.