Last of the Pagans

Last of the Pagans
Ray Mala and Lotus Long
Directed by	Richard Thorpe
Screenplay by	John Farrow
Based on	Typee 1846 novel by Herman Melville
Produced by	Phil Goldstone
Starring	Ray Mala Lotus Long
Cinematography	Clyde De Vinna
Edited by	Martin G. Cohn
Music by	Nat W. Finston
Production company	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed by	Loew's, Inc.
Release date	December 20, 1935 (1935-12-20)
Running time	70 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Tahitian/English

Last of the Pagans is a 1935 MGM film based on the Herman Melville novel Typee (1846).^[1]

The film was shot on location in Tahiti.^[2][3]

Plot summary

Taro is a native of the island of Tofua who kidnaps a wife named Lilleo from the neighbouring island while bride hunting. At first, she greatly dislikes him but comes to love him. During a feast, an American schooner arrives at the island and offers liquor and trinkets, such as pocket watches to the natives if they sign a form they can not read, which forces them to work in terrible conditions in the phosphate mine on the island of Patua for the Olympic Mining Company. Due to the schooner's deception, a major conflict arose between the islanders and the Westerners, making Taro stand up against the intruders, but is forcibly taken to work in the mines, and Lilleo is taken back to Tofua to marry the chieftain. During a mine collapse, Taro risks his life to save his supervisor, which greatly impresses his captors. They agree to bring him Lilleo but change their mind when they learn she is the chieftain's bride. Disheartened, Lilleo sneaks aboard the schooner to Patua without their permission. They find out and lock her in a cabin, but she escapes to meet Taro. They bring her back to the schooner, and Taro follows suit but is imprisoned by the French authorities in a dilapidated prison. During a hurricane, the prison roof flies off, and Taro escapes to the schooner, which is abandoned by all except Lilleo. He saves her, and after the storm clears, they sail for an uninhabited island to start a new life together.

Cast

• Ray Mala as Taro
• Lotus Long as Lilleo
• Rudolph Anders as Superintendent's Assistant
• Chester Gan as Chinese Cook (uncredited)
• Rangapo A. Taipoo as Taro's Mother (uncredited)
• Teio A. Tematua as The Chief (uncredited)
• Charles Trowbridge as Mine Superintendent

References

1. LAST OF THE PAGANS (M.-G.-M.) Picture Show; London Vol. 35, Iss. 889, (May 16, 1936): 21.
2. Dick Thorpe: All-American Levy, Shawn. Film Comment; New York Vol. 29, Iss. 1, (Jan 1993): 76.
3. A Director of a Tropical Film Has A Visitor's Usual Odd Experiences: Dick Thorpe Discovers All Strange Phenomena of Distant Islands. By Richard Thorpe. (Director of "Last of the Pagans"). The Washington Post 8 Dec 1935: M1.

External links

• Last of the Pagans at IMDb
• Last of the Pagans at TCMDB
• Last of the Pagans at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• Last of the Pagans movie file at Archive.org