Taken from a story by Somerset Maugham, The Beachcomber spins a South Seas tale of colonial missionaries, heathen natives, and dissolute Englishmen. Charles Laughton is Ginger Ted, a blustery, yet gentle drunk living on a lonely island in the Dutch East Indies. Elsa Lanchester is the busybody do-gooder who tries to reform him. Laughton's acting is priceless, and the ending is a prize.

Havi Hoffman