Themes: Self-Destructive Romance, Wanderlust, Religious Zealotry
Main Cast: Gary Cooper, Roberta Haynes, Barry Jones, Moira MacDonald, John Hudson
Release Year: 1953
Country: US
Run Time: 100 minutes
Plot
Gary Cooper stars as an island drifter who falls in love with a lovely Polynesian girl (Roberta Haynes) and defies a dominating bible-toting preacher who's out to dominate all island life. With Cooper as an example, the natives gain courage and are able to overcome the rule of the despot orator. ~ All Movie Guide
Mr. Morgan (Cooper) washes up on an island in the South Pacific, ruled by Pastor Corbett (Barry Jones), a missionary. Morgan stays on the island despite his conflicting with Corbett and has an illegitimate child, Turia (Moira Walker), by island native Maeva (Haynes). After her death, he leaves the island, but also leaves her daughter behind. He returns to the island shortly before World War II, and finds that his daughter has fallen in love with an American pilot, who crash-landed on the island. The title song "Return to Paradise" was featured in the soundtrack.
