{"id":3264,"date":"2007-05-26T13:29:04","date_gmt":"2007-05-26T20:29:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=3264"},"modified":"2021-01-16T19:57:19","modified_gmt":"2021-01-17T02:57:19","slug":"beachcomber-the-vessel-of-wrath-1938","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=3264","title":{"rendered":"Beachcomber, The \/ Vessel of Wrath (1938)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;I suppose I&#8217;m jealous of the reckless way he squanders the precious treasure of life.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Beachcomber-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Beachcomber-Poster-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-30784\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Beachcomber-Poster-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Beachcomber-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Beachcomber-Poster.jpg 394w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA naive missionary (Elsa Lanchester) tries to reform an inveterate beach bum (Charles Laughton), and soon finds herself smitten.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Character Arc<\/li>\n<li>Charles Laughton Films<\/li>\n<li>Elsa Lanchester Films<\/li>\n<li>Missionaries and Revivalists<\/li>\n<li>Morality Police<\/li>\n<li>Robert Newton Films<\/li>\n<li>Romantic Comedy<\/li>\n<li>South Sea Islands<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nBased on a W. Somerset Maugham short story, this &#8220;gently paced&#8221; tale of a &#8220;slovenly, perpetually drunk woman-chasing beach bum&#8221; and a &#8220;sheltered, naive missionary&#8221; features delightful performances by real-life couple Laughton and Lanchester. The story strains credibility and comfort during the first half, as we watch the less-than-handsome Laughton inexplicably attracting adoring native women like flies, and are forced to watch generically brown-skinned islanders patronized like children. It&#8217;s not until about halfway through the film &#8212; when Lanchester and Laughton unintentionally spend the night together on a deserted island &#8212; that things start to get more interesting; in a particularly delightful sequence, we see Lanchester relaxing as she slowly realizes that her &#8220;virtue&#8221; is not at risk around Laughton. Indeed, Lanchester&#8217;s performance is particularly noteworthy here: she remains consistently sympathetic despite her high-handed morality, and literally glows whenever she&#8217;s on the screen; she&#8217;s never been more beautiful.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Charles Laughton (who Peary nominates for an Alternate Oscar as best actor of the year) as slovenly &#8220;Ginger&#8221;<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Beachcomber-Laughton.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Beachcomber-Laughton.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-63772\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Beachcomber-Laughton.jpg 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Beachcomber-Laughton-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Beachcomber-Laughton-128x96.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Beachcomber-Laughton-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Beautiful Elsa Lanchester as the determined missionary<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Beachcomber-Lanchester.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Beachcomber-Lanchester.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-63773\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Beachcomber-Lanchester.jpg 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Beachcomber-Lanchester-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Beachcomber-Lanchester-128x96.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Beachcomber-Lanchester-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, but it&#8217;s recommended simply for the lead performances &#8212; which, as Peary notes, &#8220;retain tremendous charm&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0030933\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/film\/62931.html\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I suppose I&#8217;m jealous of the reckless way he squanders the precious treasure of life.&#8221; Synopsis: A naive missionary (Elsa Lanchester) tries to reform an inveterate beach bum (Charles Laughton), and soon finds herself smitten. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Character Arc Charles Laughton Films Elsa Lanchester Films Missionaries and Revivalists Morality Police Robert Newton Films Romantic Comedy South Sea Islands Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: Based on a W. Somerset Maugham short story, this &#8220;gently paced&#8221; tale of a &#8220;slovenly,&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=3264\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3264"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63775,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3264\/revisions\/63775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}