It should always be remembered that Universal, while it had a big-city audience, was much stronger out in the more rural areas. With that in mind, this movie makes a bit more sense. It starts off like an O'Neill drama, with a rum runner shipwrecked with only a single barrel of water, and the crew -- led by Alan Hale -- hating the rum runners -- led by Pat O'Brien. They wrangle with a lot of dramatic lighting, and some people who rarely got the chance do some good straight drama.
Then, halfway through, they discover Ralph Bellamy is on board. To say he is a Christ figure would be putting it mildly. He performs miracles like turning wine into water, healing cripples and saving everyone on board. For me, a big city type in 2017, it is way too heavy-handed. I'd like to think that director Tay Garnett, who directed some bang-up movies in the 1930s, had calculated it properly for his audience. But I don't think so.
