After the financial flopping of THE CRUSADES, Cecil B. DeMille concentrated on films dealing with different aspects of American history from 1760 to 1942. THE PLAINSMAN dealt with Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill, Calamity Jane, and even Custer. THE BUCCANEER dealt with the Battle of New Orleans, Jean Lafitte, and General Andy Jackson. UNION PACIFIC dealt with the transcontinental railroad (no really historic figure dominated the story here). Then came an exception to this trend, when DeMille turned to the Mounties v. Louis Riel in Manitoba in NORTHWEST MOUNTED POLICE. But he returned to the American History with REAP THE WILD WIND. The final two films were THE STORY OF DOCTOR WADDELL (DeMille's only World War II film, oddly enough), and THE UNCONQUERED (his only pre - 19th Century American history film).<br /><br />REAP THE WILD WIND, at first sight, does not quite seem as understandable as the others. THE PLAINSMAN is about the threat to the frontier of the Indians (getting modern weapons via villainous Charles Bickford). THE BUCCANEER does deal with how Jackson and Lafitte won the defining victory of the War of 1812, and saved the Mississippi Valley. UNION PACIFIC was how, despite crooks like Brian Donleavy, the great railroad united the U.S. with a backbone of steel. Even NORTHWEST MOUNTED POLICE explained why there were two nations going west to the Pacific, not three (the third made of Frenchmen and Metis and Indians). But REAP THE WILD WIND did not deal with westward expansion, or with land. It dealt with the America's other 19th Century frontier: the seas.<br /><br />We don't think of it (outside, perhaps, of New England), but from 1800 to 1865 our merchant marine was quite vigorous. Confederate raiders like C.S.S. Alabama destroyed much of it, but until that we were giving Great Britain serious competition. But the background of REAP THE WILD WIND is actually a little out of date in the film. The story takes place in 1840 or so. It should be in the 1820s to early 1830s. <br /><br />When Great Britain ceased being our rulers, our merchant ships suddenly were targeted by various predators. The best known was the Barbary Pirates (with whom we had two wars in 1804 and 1815). But in the Caribbean a number of freebooters and pirates sprung up to ravage our struggling merchant ships. Indeed, Jean Lafitte and his brother were suspected (possibly unfairly) of being among these - more likely the Lafittes were simply smugglers. In the late 1820s, Captain David Porter was sent with a small flotilla to clean out the worst pirate stations in the Caribbean. He did a good job. Actually, by 1840 our navy was doing a fine job protecting our ships.<br /><br />But for some reason DeMille moved the story into the 1840s. It does not hurt the film, but it weakens it's historical accuracy.<br /><br />Ray Milland represents a wealthy ship owner (Walter Hampden) whose ships are being lost to wreckers in a gang headed by Raymond Massey. Hampden's chief ship captain is John Wayne. As the film progresses he and Milland become rivals for Paulette Goddard. Her sister, Susan Hayward, becomes enamored with Massey's younger brother Robert Preston. Massey is not too keen on this, except if it gets him additional information of the movement of Hampden's ships. On the other hand, he uses the Wayne - Milland rivalry to get control (of a sort) over Wayne.<br /><br />A shipwreck of the flagship of Hampden's line results, and this leads to Milland's attempts to bring Massey to book in court. But the latter is extremely clever, and he suggests that Milland's behavior may have led to the disaster. The court decides they need further evidence - and this leads to testing the testimony of a slave, who claims the ship was haunted, and there was a noisy ghost in the hold. Is it so, or was there a stowaway - possibly the missing Susan Hayward.<br /><br />The conclusion, with three of the leads drowned or shot down on deck and Paulette Goddard averring that this was all her fault reminds one of the conclusion of say HAMLET, with corpses littering the stage. De Mille never tried that conclusion again, but it was a curious ending. It is also odd seeing Wayne (on his way to super-stardom after STAGECOACH, THE LONG VOYAGE HOME, and DARK COMMAND) in a supporting role, as was Hayward. Yet a decade later, when it was re-released, they got top billing over the actual stars Milland and Goddard.