Main Cast: Burl Ives, Christopher Plummer, Gypsy Rose Lee, George Voskovec, Tony Galento, Emmett Kelly, Jr.
Release Year: 1958
Country: US
Run Time: 93 minutes
Plot
Wind Across the Everglades represents the once-in-a-lifetime collaboration between director Nicholas Ray and screenwriter Budd Schulberg, and a strange little picture it is indeed. In his second film appearance, Christopher Plummer plays bibulous 19th-century Florida game warden Walt Murdock, who declares war on the poachers in his region. This brings him in direct conflict with the legendary Cottonmouth (Burl Ives), the spiritual leader of a group of illegal birdhunters. The highly eccentric supporting cast includes Gypsy Rose Lee as a sensuous farm wife, boxer "Two Ton" Tony Galento as a lout named Beef, circus clown Emmett Kelly as the much-married Bigamy Bob, novelist Mackinlay Kantor as the regional judge, and Peter Falk in his film debut, as an owlish writer. After Wind Across the Everglades, Nick Ray's Johnny Guitar will seem as antiseptic as Heidi. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Wind Across The Everglades is a strange and wonderful little movie, despite some clunky moments here and there -- that it has only a few is a bit amazing, as, according to cast member (and producer's daughter) Sandra Schulberg, director Nicholas Ray was so strung out on heroin, that he had to be replaced three weeks into shooting by her father Stuart Schulberg. In any case, the picture is filled with off-beat casting and moments, most of them well-captured (and many of them quite effective), and above all gives ample room for the viewer to enjoy Joseph Brun's amazing cinematography -- this is a gorgeous picture to watch, and with some of the unexpected compexities of Budd Schulberg's script (which recalls The Sea Wolf in some respects) to carry it, and an environmental message that's still relevant five decades later, Wind Across The Everglades has a lot to recommend it. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
Peter Falk - Writer; Howard I. Smith - George Leggett; Pat Henning - Sawdust; Chana Eden - Naomi; Curt Conway - Perfesser; Toch Brown - One-Note; MacKinlay Kantor - Judge Harris; Hank Simms - Narrator; Sumner Williams - Windy; Sandra Schulberg; Owen Pavitt - Sheriff
Credit
Richard Sylbert - Art Director, Frank Thompson - Costume Designer, Nicholas Ray - Director, Budd Schulberg - Director, Georges Klotz - Editor, Robert Jiras - Makeup, Saul Midwall - Camera Operator, Joseph Brun - Cinematographer, George Justin - Production Manager, Stuart Schulberg - Producer, Budd Schulberg - Screenwriter, Budd Schulberg - Short Story Author
Wind Across the Everglades is a 1958 film directed by Nicholas Ray. Ray was fired from the film before production was finished, and several scenes were completed by screenwriter, Budd Schulberg, who also supervised the editing[1].
Set in the late 19th century, the film follows a game warden (Christopher Plummer) who arrives in Florida in the hopes of enforcing conservation laws. He soon finds himself pitted against Cottonmouth (Burl Ives), the leader of a fierce group of bird poachers.
Critical Reputation
Due to Ray's having been fired from the production before the film was completed, Wind Across the Everglades holds a contentious place in film scholarship. In a short review of the film, critic Jonathan Rosenbaum described it as "a kind of litmus test for auteurists"[3]. After citing the film's editorial history, Rosenbaum goes on to say that "Ray's masterful use of color and mystical sense of equality between the antagonists (also evident in Rebel Without a Cause and Bitter Victory) are made all the more piquant here by his feeling for folklore and outlaw ethics as well as his cadenced mise en scene."[3]
