Tiger Shark

One of Howard Hawks' earliest gems, Tiger Shark (1932) is both a lucky accident and a crafty, Depression era rip-off of Moby Dick. The project evolved from an Hawaii vacation Hawks had scheduled with his wife. (Rumor has it the real reason for the getaway was to make a clean break from Ann Dvorak; the actress and director became romantically involved during the production of Scarface earlier that year). Before Hawks and his wife arrived in Honolulu in February of 1932, the director had promised Warner Brothers production head Darryl Zanuck that he would use the rest period to flesh out a story set in a Portuguese fishing community, tentatively titled Tuna. Once he was in Hawaii, Hawks ran into King Vidor, Joel McCrea, Dolores Del Rio and an entire Selznick/RKO crew filming island locations for their South Seas romance epic, Bird of Paradise (1932). Amongst the Paradise staff was young screenwriter Wells Root, hired to polish dialogue. Hawks liked Root's style, and soon the Hollywood novice found himself shanghaied to work on the Warners story, with Zanuck footing the bills. Root was amazed at Hawks' effortless ability to manipulate the Hollywood studio bosses, doing virtually no work at all for the remainder of his holiday, except for altering the original political implications of the script - a proletariat hero exploited by capitalist interests. Once back on the mainland, Hawks and Root were called on the carpet by an irate Zanuck, demanding a detailed synopsis. A nervous Root accompanied a remarkably sedate Hawks into the executive's office, where, much to the writer's amazement, the wily director informed Zanuck that the new title was Tiger Shark, and proceeded to regale the producer with a lusty love triangle concerning a crude Portuguese skipper, his younger good looking pal/surrogate son and a beautiful local girl. Adding gory details such as how the skipper's hand is bitten off by a shark and how he saves his friend by removing a massive fish hook from his neck, Hawks held both Zanuck and Root spellbound with excitement, particularly Root, as this was the first time he had heard any of this material. Enthusiastically shaking his hand, Zanuck heartily gave the go ahead with a strict production schedule designed to accommodate star Edward G. Robinson. Leaving the delighted studio bigwig's office, Root beseeched Hawks to tell him how he got the idea for that fantastic plotline. With a sly smile on his face, Hawks turned to his collaborator and simply replied that as far back as Hawaii he had figured on stealing the plot to They Knew What They Wanted, Sidney Howard's 1924 award winning play, later filmed by RKO in 1937 with Charles Laughton and Carole Lombard. Unbeknownst to Root, this wasn't the extent of Hawks' chicanery. Star Edward G. Robinson "adored Tiger Shark because... Howard Hawks...let me chew the scenery." Much of Robinson's theatrical performance came from inspired lines and bits Hawks thought up during location. Little did Root and Robinson realize that these brilliant "impromptu" snippets were actually pre-arranged contributions from uncredited screenwriter John Lee Mahin, whom the director greatly admired. Earlier that year, after a smash preview of Red Dust (which Mahin had written), a limo full of happy fellow scribes and buddies of Mahin's (including Hawks) were on their way to celebrate the success of the screening. Mahin noticed Hawks looking particularly glum, and inquired why he was so miserable. Hawks, confused and upset, merely shook his head, and explained that he did not understand where his pal had stolen all that terrific material. Mahin quietly put his hand on the perplexed filmmaker's shoulder, and replied that occasionally people get original ideas, to which Hawks' responded with a piercing glare concurrently suggesting both rage and disbelief. The lovely female lead Zita Johann, best know for her performance in the horror classic The Mummy (1932), also indirectly had a hand in the Tiger Shark screenplay. While shooting commenced, Hawks kept Zohann's recent bridegroom busily ensconced in the location Catalina hotel doing under-the-table re-writes. The harried newlywed, who just happened to be future Orson Welles Mercury Theater cohort/producer (and 1973's Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner for The Paper Chase) John Houseman, would later fondly recall that the uncompensated experience was certainly amusing although, to his knowledge, none of his work ever showed up in the final cut. Hawks later credited his old flying squadron compadre, Richard Rosson, for the extraordinary shark footage as well as the seagoing sequences. Rosson, whose brother Harold would go on to photograph Hawks' Technicolor Western El Dorado (1967), was responsible for a good deal of the movie's action scenes as well, which, upon the picture's release, received much of the critical acclaim. This thoroughly pleased Hawks, who loved discovering new talent; more importantly, Rosson literally invented the all-important position of second unit director on Tiger Shark, a film which was used for decades as a staple in the Warner's stock library. Producer: Raymond Griffith Director: Howard Hawks Screenplay: Houston Branch (story Tuna), John Lee Mahin (uncredited), Wells Root Cinematography: Tony Gaudio Costume Design: Orry-Kelly Film Editing: Thomas Pratt Original Music: Leo F. Forbstein, Bernhard Kaun (uncredited) Principal Cast: Edward G. Robinson (Mike Mascarenhas), Richard Arlen (Pipes Boley), Zita Johann (Quita Silva), Leila Bennett (Muggsey), J. Carrol Naish (Tony). BW-78m. Closed captioning. by Mel Neuhaus