Never the Twain Shall Meet

Dan Pritchard, Leslie Howard, is a partner along with his father in a San Francisco-based shipping company. His socialite fiancée Maisie Morrison, Karen Morley, avoids setting a wedding date, leaving him frustrated. Dan is summoned to the ship of his father’s friend, Captain Larrieau, Mitchell Lewis, who reveals he has contracted leprosy and asks the Pritchards to act as guardians for his daughter. Tamea, Conchita Montenegro, is described as a barefoot native girl, her hair wild and her appearance almost untamed, the daughter of a Polynesian queen. After Dan agrees to take care of Tamea, Captain Larrieau goes topside and leaps overboard.

Over the next days, Dan cannot help becoming infatuated with Tamea, who constantly throws herself at him and shocks him with her uninhibited manner. While attending a party, Dan is unsettled by his friends’ prejudice, and his affections shift from Maisie to Tamea, who then seduces him. Dan’s father, Mr. Pritchard, C. Aubrey Smith fearing that his son is losing control, puts Tamea on the next boat back to the islands. Dan soon follows.

The two live together on the island for a time, initially amid a tropical idyll, though it is clear that Dan feels out of his element—there is little to do but lounge and drink in the local bar. Trouble begins when Dan realizes that Tamea’s lack of Western sexual restraint makes her freely interact with Tolongo, a bare-chested native boy, Bob Gilbert, and jealousy erupts as Dan grows angry and destructive.

Fortunately for Dan, Maisie does not give up on him. She follows him to the island, rescuing him from the tropical paradise that has become his nightmare. Although Tamea grieves Dan’s departure, she quickly takes up with Tolongo again, helping her forget the man who left her behind.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 12:33