After the events of the day, I had to watch something lighter.  In hindsight, I could have made a better choice.  What I watched was Donovan’s Reef (1963).  If you read my review of The Quiet Man (1958), you might notice some praise for the star of both movies, John Wayne.  He was always at his best when paired with his long-time friend (and Catholic), director John Ford.  All these ingredients are present in Donovan’s Reef, even the Catholic part.  Yet, this one made me uncomfortable in ways that Wayne’s other work has not.  I think this will become obvious as you read the synopsis.

What is less obvious from the outset of Donovan’s Reef is what the heck is happening as we are introduced to the small, South Pacific island on which the film takes places.  The first person we meet Thomas Aloysius “Boats” Gilhooley (Lee Marvin).  He is a sailor on a freighter on a boat off that same atoll, but for mysterious reasons, he has to literally jump ship to get there.  Living his life as the owner of the title bar is Boats’ World War II comrade, Michael Patrick “Guns” Donovan (John Wayne).  While visiting the French colony’s governor, Marquis Andres de Lage (Cesar Romero), Guns is alerted to Boats’ arrival.  This news enrages Guns, who gets to his establishment to find Boats already a few drinks on his way to drunkenness.  To everyone’s delight or consternation (or both), the two fight.  This happens a lot.  However, this is not to be the biggest development for people in area.  Back in Boston, Massachusetts, Amelia Dedham (Elizabeth Allen) is declared the new chairman of the board of the lucrative Dedham Shipping Company.  There is one potential legal catch to her assuming this position, and that is her father, Dr. William Dedham (Jack Warden).  Father and daughter have been estranged since the outbreak of World War II.  He had served in the Pacific with Boats and Guns, and had decided to remain on the island on which they had been shipwrecked when their destroyer had been torpedoed.  In the intervening years, he had married the queen of the local indigenous peoples and had three children with her.  Unfortunately, she had died giving birth to the last.  Back in the present, Dr. Dedham had departed to bring medical care to the surrounding islands, which means he is not present when Amelia comes to confront her long-lost dad.  The residents, including Guns and Governor de Lage learn of her coming, and it is Guns that makes the decision to hide her half-siblings from her.  Instead, they are to pretend that Guns is their parent, which takes some getting used to, but works because they already see him as an uncle.  At the same time, though these specifics are unknown to Guns, if Amelia finds any irregularities with her father, the shares of the company go to her.  Governor de Lage is aware of the potential riches and is trying to woo her from the moment she steps ashore.  Nonetheless, it is Guns who is called upon to be her chaperone.  For reasons at which I can only guess, he treats her roughly upon first laying eyes on her.  This is one of a few reasons why this is an uncomfortable watch.  The other is the racism, but let us continue.  Not even the presence of a priest and a few nuns could make this better.  At any rate, Guns drops Amelia off at her father’s well-appointed home.  That night, in the middle of a storm, she is awakened by Luke Dedham (Jeffrey Byron).  He is Dr. Dedham’s young son, but the boy keeps silent on his parentage. Instead, he is welcomed to stay the night rather than return in Guns’ open-top jeep.  In the morning, Guns comes to collect Luke and finds Amelia and the boy have become friends.  This is all the opening needed for Amelia and Guns to start falling in love.  It is improved when Guns takes Lelani Dedham (Jacqueline Malouf), the oldest child and heir to throne, to go waterskiing.  Amelia tags along and proves herself adept on the skis.  Yet, the more they spend time together, the more Amelia begins to suspect that something is amiss.  The situation is not improved by Dr. Dedham’s return.  He is warned before he gets there that Amelia is present and the lie about the children.  He does not care about this situation, but goes along with it for the moment.  It is while they are sharing their first conversation alone that he tries to tell her the truth, starting with the fact that he does not care about the shares of the company.  He had not gone back to Boston because he felt like he had been needed in the South Pacific.  Before he can reveal that he is the father of the three children, he is called away to a medical emergency.  What eventually makes Amelia realize the truth is when she is there for the presentation of Lelani as the next ruler of the island.  In it, she can see the resemblance between the young girl and her father, which also fits with all the other clues she had been noticing.  While she accepts her new siblings joyfully since she had already enjoyed each other’s company, she is angry with Guns for lying.  When she confronts him, he tries to explain that they had simply not known what to expect for her.  All the same, she is about to leave the island when she gets some encouragement from Dr. Dedham to mend things with Guns.  After some negotiations, part of which involves Guns signing the bar over to Boats, they agree to get married.

Once marriage is agreed upon at the end of Donovan’s Reef, the final shot is everyone helping Lelani and her siblings move back into Dr. Dedham’s house.  This Catholic hoped for a church wedding, which is the proper way to go about such things, but the movie stops before that point.  It is also not crazy to hope for such an outcome.  Guns has an Irish surname, which American culture at this time (and to this day to some degree) equates with being Catholic.  Amelia purports to know the Kennedys, who were Catholic.  Finally, there is a Catholic chapel nearby, woefully maintained by poor Father Cluzeot (Marcel Dalio).  I say “poor” because he is constantly worrying about the state of his chapel, or any of the other issues going on around him.  These factors, along with the presence of two nuns, should have made for some satisfying Catholic-ness to my viewing.  However, in addition to the problems mentioned in the synopsis, it gets to be a bit too hokey.  What I appreciated more was Dr. Dedham.  His commitment to going where he is needed speaks to how we should respond to God’s call upon our lives.  It is evident that the physician felt bad for leaving behind his daughter in Boston.  Yet, he was moved to give whatever assistance he could render to the people of the South Pacific.  Despite not being discussed in that vocationally Catholic manner in which you might hear nuns and priests speak, Dr. Dedham is no less convicted about the correctness of his actions.  What else other than God could make one want to leave their old life behind to minister to God’s children, whether on the edge of the world or in a parish somewhere.  Sadly, the seeming craziness of saying yes to these demands scares many into conformity.  If there is anything positive to take from this movie, it is that God has amazing things in store for those who say yes.

On the other hand, I would say no to watching Donovan’s Reef if I were you.  Between the uncomfortableness and hokeyness, there is not much to recommend it.  Go watch The Quiet Man instead.