Purely Joyful Movie!

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

This film overflows with Ford's traditional manly cuteness. By the time this film was made however, it had all become utterly corny and totally cliche - for example the drunken bar fight that always must include the traditional bits of friends hitting each other for comic relief and the presence of one guy standing calmly as the fight carries on around him. All that is missing is Ward Bond, Victor McLaglen, and Jay Flippen,The story is a bit of a mess. While the main story is a good one, the silliness of the rest of it (which was aimed at society in an age when alcoholism and being falling down drunk was considered humorous) is very hackneyed.In the standard saloon / nightclub scene, had to be in nearly every film of the day, is odd because Dorothy Lamour speaks the lyrics instead of singing them. There are other oddities as well.Overall, the film might have worked in the early fifties, but it doesn't play all that well for modern audiences. As such, it is hard to give it a high rating, particularly in comparison to other films of the day, such as the endearingly funny Cary Grant film, Father Goose, which had a more modern and intelligent style and which shut the door on films such as Donovan's Reef. Considering that the Ford-directed comedy Mister Roberts had been made seven years earlier, it is odd that John Ford would trot out an old-style comedy as late as 1962.

WOW! There are some movies that from the very start grab you and don't let you go......and this is one of them! Top Marks! First of all,though, if it weren't for the cast, I might have never have bothered with the flick based on the cover art and back of the box (VHS) summary. Many a movie summaries, even when this one was put out in VHS, seem to either be completely wrong about the movie or give away the first half in a few sentences. This summary was the former and it was wrong for it was not a story of two old friendly brawlers competing over the new girl on the island............far from it.The movie is dated. There are points here and there that would be unacceptable in today's politically correct world. Of course, some of them one might have needed to been in nautical service to pick up on. However, perhaps one should take a brief lesson from the flick, if only for a moment in "even though I believe in one, I still respect the beliefs of those before me".It's a tear jerker at times but on a good note. It also brings back personal memories of where the senior government official for an away station would provide narration for the Pageant.Technically, the movie moves smoothly along. There are some non smooth spots such as major players perhaps not being used as much as their fame would have and minor players supporting a particular scene but not much else. That in the latter case, though, is life for one can't be everywhere at once. In either case, they do not detract from the main thrust of the story. Further, the story does not give away all its secrets at once for there are some mysteries that the audience is finding out just about the time, if a little sooner, as the antagonist is.When I watched movies at the theater, there would be often a feeling on exit, blinking in the sunshine, of what a wonderful experience that I just had. This movie has the same, even if I watched it on a large box TV, sitting in a den.

I got myself a copy of this on DVD for Christmas. It's one of my favorite John Wayne movies, right up there with "The Quiet Man" and "The High and the Mighty". Jimmy Buffett would feel right at home hanging out with these characters! The anti-racist and anti-prejudging themes are nicely slipped in without being hammered at; there are scenes, such as the Christmas program, which manage to be at once touching and hilarious; there's all that drop-dead-gorgeous tropical scenery to look at (a definite plus when you're enduring a Wisconsin winter or the equivalent!); and of course there's that ongoing brawl... "Donovan's Reef" may not be a classic as some film buffs define the term, but it's a very likable movie and a whole lot of fun!

You hear the names John Ford and John Wayne and one automatically thinks of Westerns, sprawling landscapes and machismo in bunches. Odd then that their last collaboration should be a knock about comedy set on a paradise isle. Perhaps even odder is that it should turn out to be one of their most entertaining films. Donovan's Reef finds the two Johns in very relaxed mood, as is the rest of the cast I might add. A cast that includes Lee Marvin, Mike Mazurki, Jack Warden, Cesar Romero, Dorothy Lamour and the lovely Elizabeth Allen.Speaking personally, I found the film far more rewarding by not knowing much about it before hand, I really only ventured into it out of loyalty to the Johns and the Marv. So in that, this isn't much of a review as such, because I would simply urge people to give it a go. Why you ask?, well because it's one of those films that can brighten your day when things have gone dark, you got The Duke and The Marv slugging each other at regular intervals, not in the normal way associated with these guys, but jocular-with this biff bang machismo comes laughs a plenty. We have Romero and his beard on prime slime mode, Allen as delicious as she is prim and proper and the Kaua'i location work gorgeously realised by William H. Clothier's photography. It's not just a comedy either. Under the mirth we find Ford dealing in thematics such as anti-racism, anti preconceptions and one of his pet leanings of brotherhood.Donovan's Reef is a smashing film, it's far from perfect, something the principals were aware of. But in the end it's obvious that all involved just said to hell with it, lets enjoy it and hope the audience buys into that attitude as well. One can only hope that you do buy into it, and thus get as much fun from it as yours truly most assuredly did. 8/10