SOUTH OF PAGO PAGO

US, 1940, 98 minutes, Black and white.
Victor McLaglan?, Jon Hall, Frances Farmer, Gene Lockhart.
Directed by Alfred E.Green.

South of Pago Pago is an entertaining, but eminently forgettable, South Sea island melodrama. It resembles many films of the period - in the wake of John Ford's Hurricane. It resembles such films as John Wayne's Wake of the Red Witch and Fred MacMurray? in Fair Wind to Java in the late '40s, early 150s. Victor McLaglen? is at home in a roguish role. Jon Hall (who was in Hurricane and who was later to be paired with Maria Montez in some exotic adventures) is the island hero. There is a good supporting cast and Edward Small (producer of Man in the Iron Mask, The Corsican Brothers) gives his production some quality values.

The film is principally interesting in its focus on its female star, Frances Farmer. There was renewed interest in her and her career with the biography starring Jessica Lange in 1982. The film shows Frances Farmer as a tough actress and an actress with a touch of irony. Jessica Lange's performance shows a lot of the qualities that Frances Farmer illustrates in this film. It has been pointed out that when the film was released originally in 1941, the actress received third billing. Posters for its re-release in the late '40s show her reduced to 7th. or 8th. place with her name just above that of the director. This seems to illustrate the attack against her portrayed in the film biography. Frances Farmer was to appear in such films as Come and Get It, Rhythm on the Range, Son of Fury.