Donovan's Reef
| Donovan's Reef | |
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1963 poster
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| Directed by | John Ford |
| Produced by | John Ford |
| Written by |
James Edward Grant Frank S. Nugent |
| Starring |
John Wayne Lee Marvin Jack Warden Elizabeth Allen |
| Music by | Cyril Mockridge |
| Cinematography | William H. Clothier |
| Edited by | Otho Lovering |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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109 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2,686,000 |
| Box office | $6,600,000 |
Donovan's Reef is a 1963 American Technicolor film starring John Wayne. It was directed by John Ford and filmed on location on Kauai, Hawaii.
The cast included Elizabeth Allen, Lee Marvin, Jack Warden, Dorothy Lamour, and Cesar Romero. The film marked the last time Ford and Wayne ever worked together on a project.
The film is an action/comedy. Donovan's Reef is a light-hearted movie.
The film begins with Thomas "Boats" Gilhooley (Lee Marvin), an expatriate United States Navy veteran, working aboard a freighter. When he realizes that the ship is passing by Haleakaloha, French Polynesia, and not actually stopping there, he jumps ship to swim to the island.
Next, Michael "Guns" Donovan (John Wayne), another expatriate U.S. Navy veteran and a former shipmate of Gilhooley, returns from a fishing trip aboard an outrigger canoe. Donovan is greeted by William "Doc" Dedham (Jack Warden), also a U.S. Navy veteran and the only physician in the archipelago, who is about to begin a one or two week pre-Christmas circuit of the "outer islands," taking care of the health needs of the residents. Dedham's three children are placed in Donovan's care.
The kids' plans for a peaceful celebration of Donovan's birthday on December 7 are shattered by the arrival of Gilhooley, who shares the same birthday. There is an unbroken 21-year tradition that Donovan and Gilhooley have a knock-down, drag-out fight every birthday—-to the delight of the local observers-—and their 22nd year does not break the tradition. The two vets meet in (and trash) "Donovan's Reef," the saloon owned by Donovan.
Miss Amelia Dedham (Elizabeth Allen) is a "proper" young lady "of means" from Boston, who has become the chairman of the board of the Dedham Shipping Company. Her father is Doc Dedham, whom she has never met, but who now has inherited a large block of stock in the family company, making him the majority stockholder. She travels to Haleakaloha in hope of finding proof that Doc has violated an outdated (but still in effect) morality clause in the will which would keep him from inheriting the stock and thus enable her to retain control.
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Wikipedia