Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942)

Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942)

„Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake“ is a 1942 Black & White south seas adventure film directed by John Cromwell. The screenplay by Philip Dunne is based on the 1941 novel „Benjamin Blake“ by Edison Marshall.

During the reign of King George III, in Bristol, England, young Benjamin Blake, son of the deceased Baronet of Breetholm is taken from his commoner grandfather, gunsmith Amos Kidder, and forced to serve his vengeful uncle, Sir Arthur Blake. Arthur inherited the title and land from his brother Godfrey, and fears that Ben may not have been born out of wedlock and might claim his inheritance. He compels the boy to become his ward and bonded servant, giving Arthur life-and-death power over the lad. Ben vows to endure whatever he must in order to one day prove himself a „true Blake“ and recover his birthright.

Now a young man, Ben has fallen in love with his cousin, Isabel, Arthur’s haughty and scheming daughter. Arthur discovers the relationship. Ben flees, but his grandfather is imprisoned.

Ben stows away on a ship bound for the South Seas, where he can make his fortune, prove his claim, and release his grandfather from prison. Ben and shipmate Caleb Green jump ship at a Polynesian island. There he wins the trust of the native islanders, finds a fortune in pearls, and takes a new love, a native girl he calls „Eve“.

With his treasure, Ben returns to England under an assumed name to prove his birthright with the help of noted „man of influence,“ Bartholomew Pratt. Ben is betrayed after he goes to Breetholm to see Isabel, and is convicted by jury for the earlier offenses. Just as his death sentence is about to be pronounced, he is saved by Pratt, who proves that no crime was committed by showing that Ben’s father and mother were married aboard a ship to India, and that „Sir Benjamin Blake“ was in law the rightful baronet at the time. Ben discovers that it was Isabel who betrayed him and also repays the beating he received from Arthur. He emancipates the bonded tenants of Breetholm and divides the estate among them, deeding the manor house to his grandfather. Ben then returns to the Polynesian island to live out his life with Eve.

Cast:

• Tyrone Power – Benjamin Blake
• Gene Tierney – Eve
• George Sanders – Sir Arthur Blake
• Frances Farmer – Isabel
• Roddy McDowall – Benjamin as a Boy
• John Carradine – Caleb Green
• Elsa Lanchester – Bristol Isabel
• Harry Davenport – Amos Kidder
• Kay Johnson – Helena
• Dudley Digges – Pratt
• Halliwell Hobbes – Purdy
• Marten Lamont – Kenneth Hobart
• Arthur Hohl – Capt. Greenough
• Pedro de Cordoba – Feenou
• Heather Thatcher – Maggie Martin
• Lester Matthews – Prosecutor
• Charles Irwin – Captain
• Dennis Hoey – Lord Tarrant
• Robert Greig – Judge
• Mala – Marnoa
• Clifford Severn – Paddy
• Olaf Hytten – Court Clerk
• Thomas Louden – Court Clerk
• Katherine Yorke – Courtroom spectator
• Keith Hitchcock – Crier
• Cyril Thornton – Englishman
• Louis Bacigalupi – Fighter
• Cyril McLaglen – Grimes
• James Craven – Guard
• Matthew Boulton – Jury Foreman
• Clive Morgan – Lord St. George
• Ethel Griffies – Matron
• Mae Marsh – Mrs. Purdy
• Besmark Auelua – Native
• Elena Beattie – Native
• Odetta Bray – Native
• Billy Bunkley – Native
• Sonny Chorre – Native
• Romere Darling – Native
• Rosita Delva – Native
• Vic Groves – Native
• Mailoa Kalili – Native
• Dolores Lamar – Native
• Billie Lane – Native
• Gloria Lynn – Native
• Tani Marsh – Native
• Agnes O’Laughlin – Native
• Patsy Perrin – Native
• George Piltz – Native
• Lucille Porcett – Native
• Marjorie Raymond – Native
• Rodd Redwing – Native
• Leina Ala Reid – Native
• Kay Silva – Native
• Kay Adell Stork – Native
• Harry Tauvera – Native
• George Urchel – Native
• Vanita Wade – Native
• Dorothy Ward – Native
• Sethma Williams – Native
• Rosemary Wilson – Native
• Ignacio Sáenz – Native Boy
• Leonard Carey – Pale Tom
• David Clyde – Shellback
• Harry Cording – Turnkey
• David Thursby – Wardman
• Hamilton Bunkley
• Dolores Dee
• Reona Erro
• Anita Gamez
• Louis Hahn

„Abenteuer in der Südsee“ (Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake“ ist ein Südsee-Abenteuerfilm von 1942 unter der Regie von John Cromwell. Das Drehbuch von Philip Dunne basiert auf dem 1941 erschienenen Roman „Benjamin Blake“ von Edison Marshall.

Während der Herrschaft von König Georg III. wird in Bristol, England, der junge Benjamin Blake, Sohn des verstorbenen Baronets von Breetholm, seinem bürgerlichen Großvater, dem Büchsenmacher Amos Kidder, weggenommen und gezwungen, seinem rachsüchtigen Onkel, Sir Arthur Blake, zu dienen. Arthur hat den Titel und das Land von seinem Bruder Godfrey geerbt und befürchtet, dass Ben unehelich geboren wurde und Anspruch auf sein Erbe erheben könnte. Er zwingt den Jungen, sein Mündel und Knecht zu werden, wodurch Arthur die Macht über Leben und Tod des Jungen erhält. Ben schwört, alles zu ertragen, um sich eines Tages als „wahrer Blake“ zu beweisen und sein Geburtsrecht zurückzuerhalten.

Als junger Mann hat sich Ben in seine Cousine Isabel, Arthurs hochmütige und intrigante Tochter, verliebt. Arthur erfährt von der Beziehung. Ben flieht, aber sein Großvater wird gefangen genommen.