| White Shadows in the South Seas | |
|---|---|
1928 film poster |
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| Directed by | W.S. Van Dyke Robert Flaherty |
| Produced by | Irving Thalberg Hunt Stromberg |
| Written by | Intertitles: John Colton |
| Screenplay by | Jack Cunningham Ray Doyle |
| Based on | White Shadows in the South Seas by Frederick O'Brien |
| Starring | Monte Blue Raquel Torres |
| Music by | William Axt David Mendoza |
| Cinematography | Clyde De Vinna Bob Roberts George Gordon Nogle |
| Editing by | Ben Lewis |
| Studio | Cosmopolitan Productions |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1928 U.S) Parufamet (1929 Germany) Warner Home Video (2010 DVD) |
| Release date(s) | November 10, 1928 (U.S. theatrical) |
| Running time | 89 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English intertitles |
White Shadows in the South Seas (1928) is a silent film adventure romance produced by Cosmopolitan Productions in association with MGM and distributed by MGM. The movie was directed by W.S. Van Dyke and starred Monte Blue and Raquel Torres. Based on the novel of the same name by Frederick O'Brien, the film is known for being the first MGM picture to be released with a pre-recorded soundtrack and having won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography for Clyde De Vinna.
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The film is based on the 1919 novel of the same name by Frederick O'Brien, who spent a year in the South Pacific with native islanders. The film began production in 1927 as a co-venture between documentary filmmaker Robert Flaherty and MGM. The production was filmed in Tahiti, 4000 miles from Hollywood, a rarity for the time.
The film is known for being the first MGM picture to be released with a pre-recorded soundtrack. The soundtrack consisted of a romantic score by William Axt and David Mendoza, with a few sound effects such as wind howling, a storm, trees ruffling and one faint word "Hello". The Tahitian location was sumptuously captured by cameramen Clyde De Vinna and Bob Roberts. De Vinna picked up an Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his efforts at the 1929 ceremonies, the second year the cinematography award was given out. De Vinna had previously been to Tahiti with director Raoul Walsh when they made the 1923 island adventure Lost and Found on a South Sea Island for Goldwyn Pictures.
Frederick O'Brien had spent a year in Samoa 1919-1920 living amongst native Samoan islanders. Robert Flaherty had lived with his wife and children in Samoa from April 1923 to December 1924 filming the feature documentary Moana released in January 1926 by Paramount Pictures.
Several years later MGM production head Irving Thalberg was in hospital recuperating and during his stay Thalberg read O'Brien's book. In 1927 Thalberg decided to put O'Brien's book to film. Flaherty, a friend of O'Brien's, was brought aboard as director while W. S. Van Dyke was added as support to Flaherty. The production would head to Papeete, Tahiti.
The new film would feature a supporting cast of almost all Tahitian islanders and/or actors with only the featured stars and a few heavies/villains coming from Hollywood. Flaherty, upon arriving in Tahiti, began shooting the film at a slow pace which was not practical for MGM. After clashing with Van Dyke, Flaherty left the production, leaving Van Dyke as sole director for the film. Van Dyke then finished the project on schedule. However, Flaherty's did shoot some scenes before departing the production, and some footage of his may be seen in the existing print, i.e. '...the lagoon in the jungle scene'.
On January 12, 2010, the film had its first home video release on DVD.[1]