Pacific Destiny

Pacific Destiny is a 1956 British drama film directed by Wolf Rilla and starring Denholm Elliott, Susan Stephen and Michael Hordern.[2] The screenplay concerns a young British couple who win the respect of the inhabitants of a South Pacific island during the colonial era.[3]

Pacific Destiny
British theatrical poster
Directed byWolf Rilla
Written byRichard Mason (screenplay)
Jack Lee (adaptation)
Based onbook A Pattern of Islands by Sir Arthur Grimble
Produced byJames Lawrie
StarringDenholm Elliott
Susan Stephen
CinematographyMartin Curtis
Edited byJohn Trumper
Music byJames Bernard
Production
companies
Lawrie Productions Limited
British Lion Films Limited (in association with)
Shepperton Studios, England
Distributed byA British Lion Release (UK)
Release dates
  • 5 June 1956 (1956-06-05) (London, UK)
Running time
96 mins[1]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

It was based on A Pattern of Islands, a memoir by Sir Arthur Grimble recounting his time in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands as a cadet officer and Resident Commissioner in the 1920s.[4][5]

Film credits show Samoa as the filming location.[6]

Plot

The true story of inexperienced District Officer Cadet Arthur Grimble (Denholm Elliott) who arrives with his bride Olivia (Susan Stephen) on a remote Pacific island to work in the Colonial Service. He finds it hard to meet the approval of his superior, the Resident Commissioner (Michael Hordern), who had been expecting a more experienced man. The harder Grimble tries to please him, the more things seem to go awry, and he soon finds himself banished to a smaller neighbouring island. Olivia though is not as easily discouraged as her husband by the situation, and lends her support in a way that eventually meets with the approval of the island people.

Cast
  • Denholm Elliott ... Arthur Grimble
  • Susan Stephen ... Olivia Grimble
  • Michael Hordern ... Resident Commissioner
  • Felix Felton ... Uncle
  • Peter Bathurst ... Uncle
  • Clifford Buckton ... Uncle
  • Gordon Jackson ... District Officer
  • Inia Te Wiata ... Tauvela
  • Henrietta Godinet ... Lama
  • Su'a Ezra Tavete Williams ... Tiki-Tiku
  • Hans Kruse ... Kitiona
  • Ollie Crichton ... Taloa
  • Rosie Leavasa ... Sea Wind
  • Moira Walker ... Voice-of-the-Tide
  • Sani ... King's-Bundle-Of-Mats
  • Fiti ... Grandmother
  • John Bryce ... Tulo
  • Tuiletufuga Taualai ... Matangi
  • Afamasaga Kalapu ... Teraloa
  • Ovalau Bureta ... Fa'afetai
  • Cecilia Fabricious ... Movement-Of-Clouds
  • Polo ... Fa'alavelave
  • Tusa ... Prisoner
  • Noa ... Warder

Dances arranged by The Hon. Peseta Sio and Mailo

Critical reception

Leonard Maltin called it a "Boring (but true) story";[7] TV Guide again, though praising the performances of Elliott and Hordern, called it "a routine and boring story with a pretty picture backdrop":[6] and British Pictures noted "A pleasant bit of colonial travelogue, most notable for being Britain's first fiction film in Cinemascope."[8]

References
  1. "PACIFIC DESTINY - British Board of Film Classification". www.bbfc.co.uk.
  2. "Pacific Destiny (1956)". Archived from the original on 16 January 2009.
  3. "Pacific Destiny (1956) - Wolf Rilla - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  4. Goble, Alan (1 January 1999). The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110951943 – via Google Books.
  5. "A Pattern of Islands, By Arthur Grimble". 24 June 2011. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022.
  6. "Pacific Destiny". TVGuide.com.
  7. "Pacific Destiny (1956) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies.
  8. Absalom, David. "ARCHIVE P - Ph: British films of the 30s, 40s and 50s". www.britishpictures.com.


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