Victory

A curious adaptation of Joseph Conrad's novel, with March as the tender-hearted misanthrope whose ivory tower on an island in the Dutch East Indies is simultaneously invaded by a downtrodden girl (Field) he rescues from a lecherous hotel-keeper, and by an unscrupulous gentleman adventurer (Hardwicke) - attended by his male 'secretary' and a brutish thug - who is after the mythical treasure supposedly hidden there. No prizes for guessing that subtleties go by the board, with Hollywood romance winning the day as a tropical storm orchestrates the passions. But the characterisations are vivid, the relationships (Hardwicke's sadistic sexual domination of Cowan, for example) surprisingly explicit, and the camerawork (Leo Tover) lushly atmospheric.