Pearl of the South Pacific (1955)

Editor's Note Virginia Mayo stars as Rita Delaine in this melodrama set in the South Seas. When schooner-skipper Dan Merrill (Dennis Morgan) awakens from a blow to the head, he finds that he and his boat have been taken over by two of his friends, Rita Delaine and Bully Hague (David Farrar), who want him to join them on an expedition to a remote Pacific island, where, they believe, the local natives have hidden a vast fortune in black pearls.Their appearance on the island halts the marriage of George (Lance Fuller), the half-breed son of the island's white ruler Tuan Michael (Basil Rusdael) and Momu (Lisa Montell) daughter of Halemano (Murvyn Vye), a warrior chief. Tuan Michael orders the intruders to leave, concerned that they will disturb the tranquility of his kingdom. But Rita claims that their craft is too damaged to be seaworthy, and will have to be docked for repairs. She quickly charms the island people, slipping questions about the black pearls into her banter with them. She concentrates in particular on George, who, completely mesmerized by her, reveals that black pearls reside in a chest on the ocean floor guarded by a giant octopus. Camp classic in which the octopus has the best dialogue.

	Virginia Mayo
	Lance Fuller
	David Farrar
	Basil Ruysdael
	Carol Thurston
	Dennis Morgan
	Johnathan Forbes
	Murvyn Vye
	Benedict E. Bogeaus - Producer
	Van Nest Polglase - Art Director
	Gwen Wakeling - Costume Designer
	Jesse Lasky Jr. - Screenwriter
	Talbot Jennings - Screenwriter
	Carlo Lodato - Editor
	James Leicester - Editor
	Louis Forbes - Composer
	Allan Dwan - Director