Comments on: Hell Harbor: A Forgotten Film from an Overlooked Director

By: deborah mercier

deborah mercier — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 18:05:39 +0000

ALOHA, I AM THE GRANDAUGHTER OF JOHN HOLLAND,AKA; J BARAHAM HOLLAND. I LIVED W/MY GRANDPARENTS J & BEATRICE HOLLAND IN LAGUNA BEACH DURING THE 50′S & 60′S. WHAT A LIFE ! I WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE A COPY OF THE FILM ” HELL HARBOR “, I HAVE THE BOOK, BUT NO MOVIE. I WOULD JUST DIE TO HAVE IT ! ANY INFO WILL GREATLY BE APPRECIATED. MAHALO, DEBORAH DUGAN MERCIER.GRAD;1967 THURSTON HIGH, LAGUNA.

By: Stork Club

Stork Club — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:34:53 +0000

I will add this to my ‘must see list’.LUPE VELEZ such a fiery and passionate actress, she was gone too soon in my opinion.

By: Poitras

Poitras — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 01:04:52 +0000

I have the film on DVD. I know George Bookasta(Spotty). He is now a memtally sharp 92 years of age. Contact me if you like.

By: walter reed

walter reed — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:31:06 +0000

I was looking at a book that has pictures of old tampa from the med 1800′s to 1957 and it showed a picture about this movie, so I would like to know when it would be showen agine.

By: Maryann

Maryann — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:30:19 +0000

When I was working on my book about women of color I came across the marvelous Lupe Velez. Unfortunately, like many other women of color her off screen life seems to be more remembered than her film career. She is an example of the same stereotypes which many minority women of her time had to endure. Firery spitfire (the whole spitfire series, for example), hot tempered Latina woman of loose morals, with eyes set upon some dupe of a white male. It is time to look back upon her career for what she provided as a Latina women working in a lily white environment and not her personal life. Perhaps TCM should have a series of films which focus on these minority women who were working in a system which had no qualms about typecasting them into roles which often denied them a broader range of roles similar to their caucasian counterparts.

By: Roger Marsh

Roger Marsh — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:30:44 +0000

Thanks for the details on this director’s slice of Hollywood – and about the film, Hell Harbor. I wish this one was easily available, as your story makes me want to see it. It’s amazing what this guy was able to do in an era when the tide was rushing into the studio.

By: Sam

Sam — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:11:43 +0000

Been off the movie scene for a few weeks But when I seen Henry King’s movie list, I had to comment, I have only 17 of his movies from 1938 to 1958, BUT each one is a favorite of mine I sure would like a copy of HELL HARBOR, as I now live 50 miles south of Tampa, and as for Lupe Velez WOW called the Mexican Spitfire in 6 of the series of the same, with Leon Errol, and what a great article Suzi, you keep amazing with your great blogs keep at it Suzi: Thanks
Sam

By: Lisa Wright

Lisa Wright — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 05:01:17 +0000

I’m sure location shooting is always more expensive and potentially time-consuming, even today, but I really applaud Mr. King and his drive to pursue his vision and prevail despite a hurricane! There’s such an art to good sound mixing and it sounds like King was willing to take some risks. Florida had many lovely sites for some better known films (Key Largo?!) Are there any that we’d know that used that same Tampa location? Sounds dreamy right now as we’re having such a cold start to the summer up here in Chicago! Thanks, Suzi, for such interesting info.

By: john august smith

john august smith — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:37:49 +0000

Lupe fired a shot at Gary Cooper. What a loss that would have been!

By: Suzi

Suzi — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:52:30 +0000

Thanks to both of you for commenting about this little-known film.

Mr. Sardonicus: I have read about some of Velez’s offscreen escapades, which often leave me sad. I prefer to know the Lupe Velez that we see on the screen. She was a very charismatic star, and she was really an inspiration to the Cuban community of Tampa during the production of this film. She was extremely gracious to Tampa officials who wanted to take advantage of her presence in their town during production. I really don’t like knowing the personal exploits of stars, especially when they are so pitiful. However, I can certainly understand the appeal, and how sometimes an actor’s offscreen life can impact their onscreen persona. I will save your e-mail, and if I ever write at length on Velez, I will interview you.