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Mood:
- Exciting
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Plot:
- AdventurerTreasure HuntDangerEscapadesPirateDaring RescueFall in LoveForces of Nature more...
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Genres:
- AdventurePeriodRomance
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Time/Period:
- 19th Century
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Place:
- IslandShipOcean or SeaIndonesia
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Based on:
- Based on Book
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Attitudes:
- SeriousRealistic
Does this gene fit Fair Wind to Java?
Fair Wind to Java, 1953
English
USA
Profile of Fair Wind to Java
Fair Wind to Java can be described as exciting. The plot revolves around a treasure hunt, adventurers, and escapades. The main genres are period and romance. In approach, Fair Wind to Java is serious and realistic. It is set, at least in part, on a ship and on an island. It is located in Indonesia. Fair Wind to Java takes place in the 19th century. It is based on a book.
Summary of Fair Wind to Java
In 1883, Captain Boll, who commands the full-rigged sailing ship Gerrymander for a Boston company in the Dutch East Indies, is given six months to show a profit, in spite of a trade exclusion policy and pirates. In Soerabaja, an Indonesian whose life Boll once saved reveals that legendary diamonds from the sunken ship Pieterzoon were salvaged by native divers, and Boll is directed to a Chinese junk captain who has "cargo" that will lead him to the diamonds. The "cargo," Boll discovers, is a woman named Kim Kim, a dancer from the sultan's palace who was taken as a slave by the Chinese. Boll buys her and smuggles her onto his ship, risking slavery charges when his first mate, Flint, discovers her and blackmails him for half of the fortune. Also aware of Kim Kim's presence is a naturalized Dutch citizen known as "Saint" Ebenezer, who is really the pirate Pulo Besar. As Ebenezer, Besar tips off the Dutch authorities about Kim Kim, but hidden in a half-filled vat of water, Kim Kim is not discovered by the Dutch during their search. When the crew finds her later, Boll, certain that she will somehow lead them to the diamonds, insists that she be treated well, but must fight the sailor Reeder to enforce her safety. At first Kim Kim is angered by Boll's continual questioning about the diamonds, but when he confesses to her his struggle with poverty and hope to buy his own ship, she warms to him, and tells him about the island of the fire god, Vishnu, where she used to go as a child. Meanwhile, Flint organizes a mutiny by claiming Boll has become unbalanced by the presence of the woman on board, but when confronted, Boll averts the crisis by offering the crew members Flint's half of the fortune, and Flint is imprisoned. As they sail in the direction of Vishnu's island, Kim Kim becomes afraid that Boll's pursuit of the diamonds will anger Vishnu. Boll is distracted by his attraction to Kim Kim, and Besar and his pirates get close enough that they successfully attack the Gerrymander. The crew is escorted to Besar's island, which contains his exquisite palace with servants and dancing girls. Boll is imprisoned separately from his men, and Kim Kim is beaten for information about the diamonds. Because she wants the diamonds for Boll, she refuses to tell what she knows, even after she is shown her mother, Bintang, who has been broken by torture and captivity. Accepting that physical abuse failed with Bintang, Besar tries a different approach with Kim Kim: he promises to spare Boll if she helps him find the diamonds. When she agrees, Besar takes her with Flint and two other sailors who have agreed to cooperate, toward Vishnu's island. Meanwhile, the crew of the Gerrymander escape from their guards and free Boll. After a struggle, they overtake the Gerrymander and follow Besar. Guessing that Besar will try to lose them during the moonless night, Boll and two men ride ahead of the Gerrymander in a longboat, sending directional signals back to the Gerrymander. Then Wilson, one of the sailors with Besar, sneaks off the ship and swims to Boll after overhearing where Besar is heading. Their map identifies the island as Krakatau, and by morning, the ships have approached the volcanic, fire-spewing island. Despite their uneasiness, both groups race up the mountain toward the temple at the mouth of the volcano. Boll spots Kim Kim on the shore below, and when lava begins to slide down the mountain and the volcano's fury increases, Boll and his crew return to the ship with Kim Kim and sail away. Realizing that the impending eruption will cause huge tidal waves, Boll orders his men to set the sea anchor and turn the ship toward the island. Soon Besar and his men also give up the diamond quest and when the volcano blows, Besar tries to outrun the wave, but his ship overturns, and he and his crew drown. The Gerrymander and its crew survive because of Boll's clever seamanship, and though they were unable to retrieve the Pieterzoon diamonds, Boll tells his crew that there is a 100,000 guilder bounty for the pirate Besar, which they will earn by handing over Besar's island to the Dutch authorities. While his crew is assembled, Boll marries himself to Kim Kim.
Details
| Language: | English |
| Country: | USA |
| Release date: | 28 April 1953 |
| Runtime: | 92 min |
Cast and Crew
as Capt. Boll
as Kim Kim
as Saint Ebenezer / Pulo Besar
as O'Brien
Photos
