(1949)3Nathan SouthernDirector Andre de Toth's nail-biter Slattery's Hurricane entertains the audience consistently for all of its 83 minutes. Scripter Herman Wouk discloses a sharp instinct for incorporating and utilizing sharp melodramatic hooks -- from Will Slattery's (Richard Widmark) exposure of his "candy-bar magnate" boss's sub-rosa gig as a narcotics smuggler to the loss of one engine as he brings his aircraft in from the titular gust. Moreover, Wouk delivers those hooks from the realm of the trite with slick, hip, and inventive dialogue that Widmark and his co-stars serve up like old masters. (The lines wax ever poetic -- and always veer an inch or two away from purple prose -- but never once cross the line and descend into sticky morass.)
But this eminently watchable picture suffers from a lapse in tone: as Wouk sets up the first two acts, Slattery reveals no emotional commitment to girlfriend/co-worker Dolores Greaves (Veronica Lake), and delivers more than one impassioned plea for Aggie (Linda Darnell), his wartime buddy's spouse. The picture sets up Slattery's desire, in its first act, for the devotion of Aggie, and the filmmakers have the audience rooting for him. Tonally, the picture goes awry. How is it possible to have Will assert to Aggie, "I've got you in my system and I'll never get you out," twice over, and end the picture by having that character rush to Dolores's arms apologetically -- without sinking viewers' hearts? (We want to see Widmark and Darnell together.) De Toth and Wouk's establishment of Slattery -- a slightly conniving and amoral backstabber, with a mercurial temper -- as a nonetheless sympathetic figure and a generally nice guy is a thoroughly gutsy and fascinating move, and it works. But the filmmakers should have Will follow through on his desires. Dolores is obviously meant to "redeem" Will in some way during the third act, but Wouk and De Toth fail to convey this redemption adequately. The problem may lie partially with Lake -- she is so cold, shrewish, and grating throughout the picture that, by the tail of the second act, when Dolores collapses and gets shuttled to the hospital, we could care less. Slattery cannot seriously anticipate happiness with this tart, with her irritating smirk and "knowing eyes." (Darnell radiates many times the appeal that Lake does here.)
De Toth conceived this screen vehicle as something of a bounce-back for then-wife Lake following her Paramount rejection. It was a misstep -- the "peek-a-boo blonde" doesn't pass muster as a "nice girl." Fortunately, the enormous pleasures that the film affords more than compensate for its tonal flaws; it pulls us in and keeps us rapt. In addition to the aforementioned dramatic strengths, Hurricane gets a boost from De Toth's smooth incorporation of stock Florida hurricane footage into the picture, and majestic special effects during the final 15 minutes of Slattery's "flight."
While flying into a hurricane, a courageous weather pilot reflects upon the chain of events that led him to risk everything to make up for his misdeeds.
