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Return to Paradise main poster

Return to Paradise

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5.9/10 • 30

1953-07-191h 40m

Drama

They called him Morgantani and to some he was a god ... but to one woman, Mister Morgan was a Man !

An American drifter comes to a remote Polynesian island controlled by a Puritanical missionary and turns the social life of the island upside-down.

Directors
Mark Robson
Writters
Charles Kaufman

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Gary Cooper

    Gary Cooper

    Mr. Morgan

  2. Barry Jones

    Barry Jones

    Pastor Corbett

  3. Roberta Haynes

    Roberta Haynes

    Maeva

  4. Moira Walker

    Moira Walker

    Turia

  5. John Hudson

    John Hudson

    Captain Harry Faber

  6. Mamea Matatumua

    Mamea Matatumua

    Tonga

  7. Hans Kruse

    Hans Kruse

    Rori at age 21

  8. Maylia Fong

    Maylia Fong

    Maeva's Aunt

Reviews1

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

May 30, 2023

6/10

Barry Jones's "Pastor Corbett" rules a tiny Pacific island with a godly rod of iron until the unwelcome arrival of American "Morgan" (Gary Cooper). He's distinctly non-conformist and has no intention of observing the sabbath and the rest of preacher's regime. The latter man's resistance to the government soon elicits support from the put-upon islanders and soon a coup, of sorts, ensues. Once the new order has been established, a form of peace breaks out until WWII arrives on their patch and they find themselves hosting the crew of a shot-down American plane of soon they all want to be shot, pretty quickly! Initially, the clashes of personalities between Cooper and Jones are quite effective, but that quickly falls away and we are left with a rather unremarkable romantic drama that I felt rather dragged, especially the will they/won't they courting scenes between Cooper and Roberta Haynes's "Maeva". If character redemption is your thing, then maybe you'll get a bit more from this - but for me, what made it interesting at the start is allowed to peter out far too swiftly. Some nice island photography of Samoa, though.

Media

  • Return to Paradise poster
  • Return to Paradise poster
  • Return to Paradise poster
  • Return to Paradise poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
missionary