AWOL marine Sgt. Jim O'Hearn is court-martialed for a variety of offenses that carry 143 years in the stockade or the death penalty but refuses to aid in his own defense.AWOL marine Sgt. Jim O'Hearn is court-martialed for a variety of offenses that carry 143 years in the stockade or the death penalty but refuses to aid in his own defense.AWOL marine Sgt. Jim O'Hearn is court-martialed for a variety of offenses that carry 143 years in the stockade or the death penalty but refuses to aid in his own defense.
George Saurel
- Jacques
- (as Georges Saurel)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWith some of Burt Lancaster's coaching before his screen test, Chuck Connors was cast as his friend in South Sea Woman (1953).
- GoofsThe yacht is flying a Dutch flag, implying that it was a neutral. The Dutch were at war with Japan. A Dutch flagged vessel would never be allowed passage through Japanese controlled waters.
- Quotes
Col. Hickman: You are aware that you face a possible sentence of death, not to mention a total imprisonment of...
[he checks some papers]
Col. Hickman: ... 143 years?
Master Gunnery Sgt. James O'Hearn: The last 100 won't hurt, sir.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Queer as Folk: Stand Up for Ourselves (2004)
- SoundtracksThe Marine Hymn
(uncredited)
Music by Jacques Offenbach
From "Geneviève de Brabant"
Played at the beginning and often throughout the picture
Featured review
SOUTH SEA WOMAN (Arthur Lubin, 1953) **1/2
The least significant entry in Warners' 5-Disc "Burt Lancaster Signature Collection" is this obscure but harmless WWII action comedy that is sufficiently enjoyable without being remotely memorable. The film starts out with Lancaster refusing to defend himself in the court-martial he is facing and the events unfold in flashback as the various witnesses give their testimony: Lancaster is a U.S. marine who (together with his pal Chuck Connors and the latter's fiancée Virginia Mayo) 'deserts' to a tropical island on the eve of the Pearl Harbor sneak attack where they proceed to live it up over there for a while, in the company of local madame (Veola Vonn), her three nieces and assorted beachcombers (including Arthur Shields). However, when a Dutch captain visits the island on his yacht, Lancaster and Co. steal it to go "have a crack at those Japs" – to borrow Errol Flynn's famous last words in Raoul Walsh's DESPERATE JOURNEY (1942); this leads to a rousing action climax in which the renegade band of islanders take on the Japanese fleet and manage to sink one of their ships – with Connors sacrificing his life in the process and leaving the way open for the budding romance between Lancaster and Mayo (reunited here three years after their joint participation in Jacques Tourner's colorful adventure, THE FLAME AND THE ARROW) to bloom. Two final things worthy of note: a young Strother Martin is clearly recognizable sitting next to Mayo in the courtroom and the eventual fate of the seaside dive might well have inspired a similar incident in, of all things, PORKY'S (1982)!!
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- Bunuel1976
- Sep 19, 2009
- How long is South Sea Woman?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $2,000,000
- Runtime1 hour 39 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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