Wake of the Red Witch

(1948)

106 minutes

Directed by Edward Ludwig

Written by Harry Brown, Kenneth Garnet and Garland Roark

Produced by Edmund Grainger

Cinematography by Reggie Laning

Distributed by Republic Pictures

Drama / Adventure / Action

Cast:

John Wayne as Captain Ralls

Gail Russell as Angelique Desaix

Gig Young as Sam Rosen

Adele Mara as Teleia Van Schreeven

Luther Adler as Mayrant Ruysdaal Sidneye

Eduard Franz as Harmenszoon Van Schreeven

Grant Withers as Captain Wilde Youngeur

Henry Daniell as Jacques Desaix

Paul Fix as Antonio 'Ripper' Arrezo

Jeff Corey as Mr. Loring

Duke Kahanamoku as Ua Nuke

Captain Ralls, at the helm of the ship Red Witch, is engaged in a personal vendetta against Dutch shipping magnate Mayrant Ruysdaal Sidneye.  Ralls believes that Sidneye stole the love of his life, the beautiful Angelique Desaix, and nothing can stand in the way of Ralls’ fury.  Ralls braves sinking ships, courts, even fighting a giant octopus armed with only a knife to regain the woman he loves.
 
Notes:

John Wayne took the name of his production company, Batjac, from the Batjak company portrayed in Wake of the Red Witch.  The original name is derived from Batavia and Jayakarta, two names for the capital of the Dutch East Indies at the time.

Filming was done in black and white to make use of sound stages, a technique used to great effect in The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance (1962) by John Ford.

Ed Wood stole the rubber octopus used from Wake of the Red Witch to film Bride of the Monster (1955).  However, his crew forgot to steal the motor that powered the monster , forcing Bela Lugosi to wrap the tentacles around himself while he fought the monster .

Work on Wake of the Red Witch was delayed while John Wayne filmed 3 Godfathers .