There are some amazing special effects utilized in this Universal B film that deals with the taking over a slave ship, a war between Mexico and the United States over California territory and the efforts to get captured natives back to their Islands because of a law passed against the slave trade. Richard Arlen is a government official sent out to infiltrate the Blackhawk slave ship which has been capturing natives from various Pacific Islands and illegally making them slaves. Arlen and Andy Devine land the boat on a tropical island and then end up in California where a war between United States and Mexico is in progress. The film becomes frequently confusing, often making the setting at certain points rather uncertain, especially concerning the Russian born Sandra Kane, playing the second wife of governor Thurston Hall, whose daughter Constance Moore is in love with Arlen.
An amusing subplot concerns Devine's comical romance with twice widowed Mabel Albertson who frequently boasted about how her husband's were as strong as lions but then all of a sudden became sick and died. Fans of "Bewitched" will be delighted to see "Darren's mother" go after Devine with promises of turning her pet goat into a feast for him. The film culminates with an avalanche (that somehow looked like a volcanic explosion which confused me as to the location of where this was supposed to be) that utilizes very good special effects. Veteran native Alaskan actor Mala has a key role as the head of the native tribes captured for slavery. Obviously made on a higher budget than other Arlen and Devine pairings, it is quite enjoyable in spite of some confusing plot location elements, and for one of the few times, I found Devine quite funny, probably because of Albertson's presence as a possible very black widow.
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