James Hitchcock "The Wake of the Red Witch" is a curious film in that it stars John Wayne as a villain, or at least as something closer to a villain than to the sort of clean-cut characters Wayne usually played, or even to his flawed heroes in films like "The Searchers" and "The Shootist". The story is based upon what the opening credits call the "famous best- selling" novel by Garland Roark. (Well it might still have been famous in 1948, only two years after it was published, but since then both it and its author have sunk into obscurity). It is a melodramatic seafaring yarn which owes something to Joseph Conrad. Wayne's character Captain Ralls is a ship's captain in the Dutch East Indies during the 1860s. When we first meet him he is preparing to intentionally wreck his own ship, the "Red Witch", which is carrying a valuable cargo of gold bullion, by grounding it on a reef. After he does so he is called before a court of inquiry, but before the court can reach its verdict the case is dropped by the ship's owner, Mayrant Sidneye.In 1950 Alfred Hitchcock caused some controversy by including a "lying flashback" in "Stage Fright". Flashbacks had traditionally been used to reveal the true situation, so Hitchcock's use of the device to show one character's false account of events, without revealing to the audience until later in the film that this account was indeed false, came as a surprise to many. Here, however, in a film made two years earlier, director Edward Ludwig does something almost equally controversial. He presents us with two contradictory flashbacks; one is told from the viewpoint of Sidneye and the other, although it is narrated by a secondary character, Sidneye's niece Teleia Van Schreeven, essentially tells us Ralls's side of the story. It is already clear that the two men are enemies of long standing, and the two flashbacks, taken together, explain the reason for their enmity, why Ralls sank the Red Witch and why Sidneye dropped the proceedings against him. The full story is too complicated to set out here, but it revolves around their rivalry for the love of the same woman, Angelique.The highly melodramatic plot, in fact, gets a bit too convoluted at times and can be difficult to follow. The film has other weaknesses as well. Wayne never seems completely at home playing Ralls, a man driven at least in part by jealousy, greed and desire revenge, and considerably more complex than the average John Wayne hero. Gail Russell, who had also starred with Wayne the previous year in "Angel and the Badman", is a bit insipid as the lovely Angelique. The scene where Ralls has to fight a giant octopus, which is guarding a treasure of pearls, is horribly unconvincing. (This scene may have inspired a similar scene in another seafaring yarn from a few years later, "Pearl of the South Seas", which features an even more ludicrously unconvincing giant octopus).On the other hand, Luther Adler is good as the greedy and obsessive shipping magnate Sidneye, and Ludwig's unusual narrative style does enough to hold our interest. "The Wake of the Red Witch" is far from being a classic of the cinema, but it still remains watchable today. 6/10

thinker1691 From one of the many novels written by Garland Roark comes this dramatic story which the Legendary John Wayne enhanced with his mere presence. Directed by Edward Ludwig the story is masterfully written and tells the naval tale of an adventurous sea Captain named Ralls (John Wayne) who's a courageous soldier of fortune. Created with duel personalities, Ralls is both blessed and cursed because of them. Instintivly knowledgeable of the sea and his ship with many skills having to do with caring about his cargo and his 18 sail masted schooner, he's a skilled navigator who instills confidence in all of his crew. This bears well with his boss Mayrant Ruysdaal Sideye (Luther Adler) who is always trying to out think his chosen Captain. To insure that Sideye gets his way, he designates a second in command trustworthy enough to get the task done. What the ship's owner plans is to insure his precious cargo is scuttled to the bottom of the sea, so's as to collect on the insurance. What those involved don't know is that Ralls has his own way of doing things and puts in danger the owners plans. It's a story of deception versus skill, which may put all those involved in jail or get them killed. To complicate matter there are several beautiful women who believe their men and the Island native who trust in their gods as well. All in all, it a good movie for Wayne and any audience member will be hard pressed to select whether Wayne is playing a Good Guy or not. It's hard. The great cast is there to insure the quality of the film which is superior. They include Gail Russell, Gig Young, Luther Adler, Henry Daniell, Paul Fix and Jeff Corey. If this is your first Wayne movie you'll realize why he became a great star. The movie is listed as a Classic and I agree. ****

vitaleralphlouis This movie simply has everything a sea adventure could possibly offer. In 1949 our family saw it twice, two nights in a row, at our neighborhood theater; the only such movie.A mean and brooding John Wayne sails the South Seas in search of riches and power, and will find Gail Russell in the process. He'll encounter treachery, a powerful island tycoon, underwater perils, one interesting problem after another. But the one thing you'll never forget is the long climax whereby John Wayne gets into a diver's suit to pursue $5 million in gold which is still in the belly of a sunken ship. The big problem is the ship has landed precariously on an underwater ledge, not on a flat sea-bottom.Three years later, Republic starred John Wayne in "The Quiet Man." No doubt their all time best movie. But for 3 years, Red Witch was their very best. The original black & white version looks better than the under-par colorized version.

edwagreen We're in the 1860s somewhere in the Pacific. John Wayne is looking for riches surrounded by natives, Gail Russell, Luther Adler and a very young Gig Young.The picture should have been in color for starters. Wouldn't you really like to see The "Red" Witch of a boat?The story is one of revenge between Luther Adler, a vicious, cunning individual who stole Gale Russell from the clutches of Wayne.To get revenge, Wayne sunk Adler's Red Witch boat and Adler shall reciprocate as the film goes on.Miss Russell must have thought that she was Merle Oberon in the way that she attempted to play her death scene similar to Oberon's "Wuthering Heights." The uneven writing doesn't help one bit.Wayne joining Miss Russell in death at the end while searching for gold at the bottom of the sea is Hollywood mush.This film needs to be waked.