Surprisingly incoherent and boring

A Brilliant Conflict

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

. . . of its 2001 Artisan "John Wayne Collection" DVD release could not even keep the main facts straight themselves on their WAKE OF THE RED WITCH jewel case. Angelique, the brunette flashback chick, is the NIECE--not the "daughter"--of Evil Island Commissioner Desiax. First Mate Rosen's blonde chick of the present, Teleia, also is only the niece--not the daughter--of Angelique and Captain Sidneye. Where the parents are of all these nieces running around underfoot in this story NEVER is explained; nor is the alleged existence of Angelique's daughter ever fleshed out. (Sometimes it might be wise to spring a few bucks and cast a few "extras" to make plot points a little more plausible.) Maybe one should not be too harsh in blaming the Artisan copy writers, as this flick is NOT close-captioned, preventing them from rechecking anything on the nonexistent subtitles, and the sound of many scenes has NOT been digitally restored, leaving it virtually inaudible (and forcing the poor Artisans to work under "garbage in, garbage out" conditions). John Wayne fans may wish to skip this picture, as the Duke's character "Capt. Ralls" is a drunken loser who flogs his sailors on capricious whims and destroys a Native Islander religion and deity. Capt. Ralls loses a pearl, loses his girl, loses his ship, loses ANOTHER ship, loses a cargo of gold bars, and loses his life. The final scene shows explicitly that this man is better off dead.

This will provide a treat for those nostalgic for the kind of 'character' and 'supporting' actors that once fleshed out every film that came out of Tinsel Town. For me the attraction was Luther Adler, scion of a great acting family (father, Jacob, sister Stella) who did sterling work with the Group Theatre but made only a handful of films. Here he is cast as the type of 'heavy' played around the same period by the likes of George MacReady, Elliot Sloane, etc. Also on hand is Paul Fix, Jeff Corey and third featured male Gig Young, a good ten years before he evolved into 'friend of the leading man', in the shapes of Rock Hudson, James Garner etc. The plot is more or less Wuthering Heights with seaweed and in the Heathcliff role Duke Wayne acquits himself reasonably well whilst Gail Russell trades heavily on her fragile beauty and lacks the spine of a Cathy Earnshaw. Nevertheless it's an entertaining romp from Republic and worth a look.

I'll bet the novel was a corker, big and fat, because the movie that Republic made out of it is pretty complicated. The fundamentals are clear enough though. John Wayne is Master of the Red Witch in 1860 and, with the complicity of his first mate, Gig Young, runs her aground and sinks her along with her cargo of millions of dollars in gold. Young believes that Wayne does it for the money, but in fact, as we learn through a series of flashbacks, he's doing it chiefly because he hates the owner of the ship, the phenomenally wealthy Luther Adler.The mutual hatred goes back seven years, to a time when Adler, dead heading it on one of his ships -- he owns many -- plucked Wayne out of the water and saved him from death by shark. At the next port, they both fall for Angelique Desaix, Gail Russel, and it's easy to see why. She's more of a blue-eyed, black-haired ghost than a young woman. She's strikingly attractive. Her pale beauty has a lunar sheen. And when she manages to raise her voice above a whisper it sounds like a high school girl's. She seems shy in front of the camera. She WAS shy. It's all very magnetic, enough to make any normal man sit her on his knee and whisper reassurances while he nibbled her ear.Well, Russel falls for one of the two men. She has a choice between the young, vigorous, handsome, tall, plain-spoken Wayne, and the squat, greedy, insinuating, lizard-eyed Luther Adler. Guess which one she chooses? Not that it does her any good. Her tradition-bound French father arranges her marriage to Adler. Wayne stalks off. Russell is heart broken.One thing leads to another. Adler is bound to a wheelchair by the disease that kills Russell. Pearls come and go. Ships blow up. And millions of dollars of gold that belong to Adler sit in the belly of the sunken Red Witch, whose location is known only to Wayne.Wayne's performance is about at par. That is to say, he's John Wayne. That slow drawl, that slight grin, all seemed to define his range as an actor. He never changed much during his career and came eventually to believe in his own legend. (He was hesitant about admitting that he had lung cancer because the public Duke should not be laid low by a disease.) He seemed not to recognize it when he showed his considerable talent in character roles in "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon," for instance, or "True Grit." After "The Wake of the Red Witch," I don't think he ever allowed his screen character to approach villainy so closely.In any case, this may be Luther Adler's film. He's the most talented actor in it and his role is the most complex. Adler's rage towards Wayne animates his days. It has joined his lust for pelf as his chief reason for living. It may have saved his life from the disease that crippled him. At one point, a meddlesome Dutch official tells Adler that his understanding is that bad blood exists between him and Wayne. Priceless, the way Adler rolls his eyes innocently, wonderingly, and replies, "Ohh, NOOOO." It's about the only comic moment in an otherwise dramatic film. And the plot itself doesn't add up to much. There's a lot of hooey about Wayne killing a giant octopus and being called "Son of Taratua", a white god, by "the natives." There's a Pearl Festival. There's a speech by Wayne about how a man can breathe free on a ship under sail. None of it makes me want to read the novel.

Hired "Red Witch" skipper John Wayne (as Captain Ralls) vies with financier boss Luther Adler (as Mayrant Ruysdaal Sidneye) for not only the love of beautiful Gail Russell (as Angelique), but also five million dollars in gold bullion. Their tale is told in "flashback" style, by fellow traveler Gig Young (as Sam Rosen).The story might be described as a "Heart of Darkness" attempt to adapt Wayne's "Reap the Wild Wind" into Laurence Olivier's "Wuthering Heights". The flashbacks do not really help build dramatic tension; rather, they make the story more confusing. Despite the presentation, the characters emerge as somewhat interesting, especially good is Mr. Adler's portrayal. There is some ambitious underwater camera-work, which fails, due to, for example, an unremarkable editing in of Wayne close-ups.Everyone tries awfully hard to make "Wake of the Red Witch" hunt, but it doesn't. **** Wake of the Red Witch (12/30/48) Edward Ludwig ~ John Wayne, Gail Russell, Luther Adler, Gig Young