FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Robert J. Maxwell "Hurricane." An interesting word with curious features, borrowed and mangled by the Spanish from the Arawak Indians of the Caribbean who, in turn, had borrowed it from the Mayan god of storms, Huracán. He must have been even meaner than Yahweh, who was at least more discriminating in his deployment of destruction.Richard Widmark is Slattery, the pilot who flies his Grumman Goose into the storm and muses about his life course. He's pretty mean too. The film open with Widmark preparing to take the seaplane out and beating hell out of the well-meaning guy who tries to stop him.Another guy who gets belted, John Russell, is an old friend of Widmark's from their days as naval aviators during the war. Russell is still in the service while Widmark has become a civilian pilot for a Florida magnate who imports and exports "chocolate". (Read "drugs".) Widmark's girl friend, Veronica Lake, works as the magnate's secretary. Both of them live on the estate. Something just occurs to me -- what is a "magnate" anyway? The plot is a little twisted at this point, and gets moreso. When Russell and Widmark first bump into one another in Florida, Russell introduces his wife, Linda Darnell. We discover, while Russell and Lake are dancing, that Widmark and Darnell had been lovers in San Diego. The expository dialog is painfully deadening. "We didn't just split up -- you walked out on me." "I left YOU? How do you think I felt?" Neither Russell nor Lake know about this earlier liaison. Widmark is so mean that, old friendship notwithstanding, he puts moves on Darnell and succeeds.The noirish interior monologue by Widmark lacks any poetry. Mostly, he rebukes himself abundantly. "Oh, brother, you got just what you asked for, didn't you. Well, didn't you? DIDN'T YOU?" At any rate, we get to like John Russell, a typical standard Navy officer, cheerful, competent, uncomprehending of women. And there's an adrenalin thrill when Widmark takes Russell up for a check flight in that Grumman Goose. Widmark shuts off one engine and flies it around in a steep bank, while Russell checks out the manifold pressure and so forth. The two of them are grinning like kids. Russell flies a Privateer for the Navy, a modified B-24. I flew in one too, in the Coast Guard, and the pilot also shut down an engine over the Pacific. I didn't care for the flight.It's a complex role for Widmark. He's neither the unmitigated sadist of "Kiss of Death" nor the tireless promoter of the public weal, as in "Panic in the Streets." He must be strong in the wrong ways and weak in the good ways until he develops a moral spine. It must be difficult to play a drunk in the movies because Widmark is a competent actor but he can't handle a drunk scene believably. I was a magnificent drunk in two scenes in the much underrated art house classic, "Too Young The Hero." Lee Marvin does a good drunk too. Not Widmark. And Richard Egan and Doris Day were embarrassing to watch when they had drunk scenes.Veronica Lake is not the diminutive femme of ten years earlier. Her features are slightly more pronounced and they look ready to express some subtle emotion but they never get around to it. Linda Darnell looks fine.It's not a bad film. The romantic drama turns the story more sluggish than it ought to be, but, as in Herman Wouk's "The Caine Mutiny," the romance merely reflects the development of the protagonist's character. The business of flying and dealing with storms is fun.

blanche-2 Richard Widmark flies into what becomes known as "Slattery's Hurricane" as he looks back on his life in this 1949 film. Directed by Andre de Toth, the film also stars Linda Darnell, John Russell and DeToth's wife, Veronica Lake.Widmark plays Slattery, a former Navy man who, with his girlfriend Delores (Lake), works for drug smugglers. Slattery is unaware of this, though subconsciously he probably knows, but Delores, an addict, knows everything. (Delores' addiction is only hinted at.) When Slattery meets an old Navy friend, Hobbie (John Russell), he finds out that Hobbie married his former love, Aggie (Darnell). Though Delores is in love with Slattery, Slattery is still in love with Aggie and goes after her, not caring about Delores' feelings or Hobbie's marriage. When a hurricane hits, Hobbie is called in for pilot duty so he can get the hurricane coordinates, but he's too drunk to fly. Slattery takes his place, and while flying through the storm, looks at his mess of a life.This isn't a particularly good film, but Richard Widmark does a great job, creating a fully fleshed-out character. It's impossible to believe that Lake, her signature haircut gone, was only 27 when this film was made. I would have guessed she was 40. Even with her husband directing the movie, she's not well photographed. It's a shame, because the petite actress was perfect for films, radiant, beautiful, with a great presence; no matter the role, she projected an intelligence and femininity. She just doesn't register here. The gorgeous Darnell has very little to do.All in all, mediocre, but worth it for Widmark.

Michael_Elliott Slattery's Hurricane (1949) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Mildly entertaining melodrama benefits from some nice performances by the leads. Pilot Slattery (Richard Widmark) takes off in a plane, flying through a hurricane where he looks back on his life. Most of this flashback centers on him running into a friend (John Russell) who he eventually stabs in the back and tries to steal his wife (Linda Darnell) while his own girlfriend (Veronica Lake) begins to lose control. While Slattery tries to steal the wife he has even more trouble from the men he works with who just happen to be involved in narcotics. At just 80-minutes this thing flies by pretty fast thanks in large part to the performances but in the end it's just way too predictable and full of too much melodrama to really work. I think the best aspect is the performance by Widmark who gets to act tough, as usual, but also manages to be very believable as the man simply struggling with his attitude and look on life. Widmark takes what could have been a simple tough guy role and adds some soul to it by really delivering a full character and one we can't help but feel as if we know. The cruelness that the character has towards anyone but himself is perfectly brought to life by the actor. Darnell doesn't get too much to do but she's certainly easy on the eyes. Russell's role is pretty thankless as well but I enjoyed all of his scenes with Widmark as the two certainly had a nice chemistry. Lake, who was married to the director at the time, doesn't come off nearly as good. I'm not sure what it was but just watch any scene she's in and it appears as if there's something really bothering her as she's constantly looking around and can't seem to keep her eyes still. Her role really wasn't written all that well but I still wasn't too impressed with her performance. The special effects of flying inside the hurricane were pretty good and it should be noted that Ray Kelloogg, director of classic drive-in fluff like THE KILLER SHREWS and THE GIANT GILA MONSTER, did the visual effects. I think the well-known cast will make people check this film out but the end results are rather mixed. There's some nice scenes and a couple decent performances but in the end you can't help but feel as if you're going through the motions and that you've seen this countless times before.

Spikeopath Lt. Willard Francis Slattery {Richard Widmark}, a former Navy pilot, is in control of this Grumman Mallard Aeroplane. He's flying right into the centre of a storm, a ferocious storm gathering momentum, here Slattery reviews his latter day life.Slattery's Hurricane is directed by André De Toth and also stars Linda Darnell, Veronica Lake, John Russell and Gary Merill. It's based around a story written by Herman Wouk, and it's with Wouk that the interesting back story to the film belongs. Herman Wouk was of course the writer of Pulitzer Prize winning novel-The Caine Mutiny {also made into a fabulous film starring Humphrey Bogart}. It was while Wouk was researching weather data for "Mutiny" that he got the genesis for Slattery's Hurricane. Pitching it to 20th Century Fox, he got the go ahead for a screenplay, and feeling inspired he turned his short story into a fully fledged book.Adapted by Richard Murphy, Slattery's Hurricane is a real good film stopped from being a great one due to the inevitable interference from the Production Code Administartion. Research into the film, and those who know the novel, shows the story to be a spiky one about adultery, drug smuggling and drug addiction, with closely formed characterisations leading the way. The observant will spot these things in the film anyway, but the toning down leaves us with a more melodramatic picture than a sharply dark one that the story deserved. However, it's with much credit to De Toth and his cast that the film is still an engrossing mood piece set around the birth of a raging hurricane, a hurricane that is not just of the storm itself, but of the emotional state of Will Slattery too. Grim nature and the troubled human condition dovetailing to create our finale of Slattery's Hurricane.Richard Widmark is good value {wasn't he always?} as the lead protagonist, mean, moody and even menacing in his selfishness, Slattery called for an actor capable of blending emotional layers. The studio had wanted Tyrone Power for the role {perhaps showing the high hopes they had for the film?}, but they got Widmark instead, who rewards them {and us} with yet another memorable performance. Linda Darnell, softly spoken, sexy and exuding a femme fatale sheen, does well with what is a surprisingly underwritten part, tho we can probably thank {not!} the PCA for that issue. Veronica Lake, then married to director De Toth, had hoped for the film to signal a comeback for her faltering career, it wasn't to be, and that's sad because she's really rather great here. Heartfelt and giving the story a crucial counter point edge to Widmark's unfolding state, Lake served notice that she still had some quality to offer cinema. John Russell and Gary Merrill {whose opening narration sets the tone} do what is needed, but rightly play second fiddle to the three principals.It could have done with better villains than the portrayals given by Walter Kingsford and Joe De Santis, but Slattery's Huricane remains a fine movie begging to be seen by more people. Still not given a DVD release and rarely shown on television, it's a film that if you get a chance to see it then you should grab that opportunity with both hands. 7/10