Producer-director John Ford once again demonstrates his successful formula for rambunctious, combative comedy and romance in this action-packed John Wayne classic.

Life on a South Pacific island for two ex-Navy buddies (John Wayne and Lee Marvin) is just about perfect - they spend most of their time in Donovans Reef, the local saloon where they brawl and feud and somehow manage to stave off the sameness of tropical living.

Then, into this mayhem arrives Elizabeth Allen, a straight-laced Bostonian in search of her father.