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Brief Synopsis
A south seas beach bum clashes with a puritanical missionary.
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Synopsis
On the island of Matareva in the Samoan South Seas, schoolteacher Rori recalls his childhood, during which his people were dominated by a British pastor named Thomas Cobbett: Cobbett rules the islanders with an iron hand, aided by wardens who brutally enforce rules which include church attendance twice a day, a nighttime curfew and restrictions against dancing. One day, about ten years before the start of World War II, Cobbett sentences a young woman, Maeva, to confinement for breaking the curfew, but is interrupted by the arrival by boat of a stranger, an itinerant American named Morgan. Cobbett demands that Morgan leave because he believes the American's presence will corrupt the islanders. When Morgan refuses, Cobbett orders his wardens to seize him, but Morgan fights off the wardens, who eventually give up. Rori, then nine years old, invites Morgan, whom the islanders dub "Morgantani," to take shelter in his family's home, and Morgan receives an equally warm welcome from Rori's father Tonga and his mother Povana. Tonga explains that Cobbett's kindly father founded the church on the island and was given power by the local government. Tonga continues that Cobbett took over after his father's death but twisted the rules, and the villagers were unable to rebel because of a traitor in their midst. The next day, Morgan rebuffs Cobbett's attempt to convince him to attend church, instead building his hut during the services. Afterward, Cobbett orders his wardens to tear the structure down. In retribution, Morgan assembles a shotgun and shoots out the stained glass windows of the church. Only Maeva is then brave enough to help him rebuild his hut, and she later buys groceries for him when the storekeeper, Kim Ling, refuses to sell him provisions based on orders from Cobbett. For her disobedience, Maeva is beaten by one of the wardens when she is alone in her hut that night. The next day, Morgan confronts the brute who hit Maeva and, while she holds off the other wardens with Morgan's shotgun, which has no shells, Morgan fights the culprit, and thereby earns the trust of the villagers. Morgan continues to live alone on the island, despite Povana's urging that he should find a partner. When Maeva moves in without his consent, he insists that she leave. After Maeva is arrested for violating the curfew, Morgan, furious at Cobbett's cruelty, breaks her out of the hut where she is being imprisoned, then fights with the wardens who try to stop him. The villagers take up the cause and rebel against Cobbett and his wardens. Morgan urges Cobbett to stay inside his house for his own safety, and the villagers rout the wardens from their island, then celebrate with dancing and a feast. Although they soon adopt their old customs, the villagers continue to attend church, and Cobbett remains among them as a neighbor and teacher. In time, Cobbett urges Morgan to marry Maeva, who is now living as his wife, but even after he learns that Maeva is pregnant, Morgan resists marriage. Morgan restores a damaged boat that had been foundering on the beach and finally sets out to leave, but when Maeva's canoe tips her into the ocean, he rescues her and remains on the island. Maeva suffers greatly in childbirth and, deeply in love with her, Morgan promises to marry her. However, when Maeva dies, a distraught Morgan leaves his baby daughter Turia with Povana and departs the island for good. Turia grows up with Rori looking after her like a brother. Rori leaves the island to attend college in Upalu as World War II breaks out. When he sees Morgan in a café he greets the now renowned wanderer, but Morgan refuses to listen to any news about his daughter. Rori, whose parents have since died, returns to the island to train as a teacher with Cobbett, whom he will eventually replace. Morgan returns to Matareva to bring much needed supplies to the island, which has suffered because of the war. The villagers as well as Cobbett are glad to see the man who is now legendary among them, and Turia follows her father everywhere. When a U.S. Air Force cargo plane radios the island during a storm that they are in trouble, Morgan organizes the villagers to create a makeshift landing strip in a lagoon to guide the plane to safety. The plane crash-lands as expected and the grateful American airmen take refuge with the villagers until they can be rescued by the Navy. Cobbett urges Morgan to remain on the island, lying that another storm approaches, because he sees that Lt. Harry Faber is trying to seduce Turia. When Morgan later overhears the airmen reading a love poem Harry has written for Turia, and then joking that she is Morgan's illegitimate daughter, Morgan becomes angry and confronts Faber, demanding that he and his men leave the island on Morgan's boat. Faber initially refuses, but Cobbett has given Morgan his old shotgun, still missing the shells, which Morgan uses to convince the airmen to leave. The villagers bid farewell to Morgan and the airmen as they board his boat, but at the last moment, Morgan changes his mind, and decides to stay on the island with his daughter.
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