The terminally sick captain Guy (Trevor Bardette) takes his ship, the
Junior, to Tabiti without confiding to anyone of his crew why ... & the
crew is a wild & restless bunch indeed, including crooked fiorst mate
Richards (Richard Benedict), rough edged sailors Chips (Michael Whalen) &
Texas (Jack Raymond), upright but flawed sailor Garland (Ron Randell),
alcoholic doctor Long (George Meeker, also the film's narrator) & the
captain's own daughter Julie (Devera Burton). Soon, conflicts arise,
culminating in a standoff between Garland & Richards, when they find a
stowaway, Tembo (Rudy Robles), & Richards wants to kill him but Garland
saves his life.
From Tembo, a native of Tabiti & member of the Omoo-tribe, Garland soon
learns the secret behind the captain's voyage to Tabiti: he once stole the Eyes
of the Shark God, two extremely valuable black pearls, & is now cursed
to die a slow death unless he returns the pearls. Unfortunately though, Richards
& Chips also learn about the pearls, & they want the pearls for
themselves - but only the captain knows where they are ...
Having finally arrived on Tabiti, the local witchdoctor (Pedro de Cordoba)
manages to prolong the captain's life long enough to return the pearls (after
which the curse would be lifted), but in an unguarded moment, Richards manages
to slip in & tries to get information about the pearls from the captain,
& when that man refuses, he kills him. With his dieing breath though, the
captain manages to tell Julie where the pearls are hidden, but she, convinced
that not Richards but the witchdoctor's magic killed her dad, has no desire to
return the pearls & wants to keep them for herself ... despite the fact
that the curse is transferred from her fther to her & her health is rapidly
declining.
Richards soon sees an opportunity to use the girl's greed to his own
advantage, & soon he & Chips manage to convince her to tell them where
the pearls are hidden, & once they get their hands on them, leave her
behind, trying to make an escape through the jungle. But then, out of pure
greed, Richards shoots Chips, & defeats Garland, when he tries to stop him,
but proves to be no match for the Omoos ...
& in the end Julie, now convinced she has to return the pearls, does put
them back into the eye-sockets of the Shark God-statue, is relieved of the
curse
& left to look into a brighter future in the arms of Garland.
Very low budgeted Herman Melville adaptation, that ever so often reverts to
B-movie clichés - which works for the film inasmuch as it is thus able to
escape a certainheavyhandedness usually found in higher budgeted Melville-adaptations.
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