Return to Paradise (UA 1953, Gary Cooper, Roberta Haynes)

A wayward hedonist (Gary Cooper) arrives on a Polynesian island, falls in love with a native beauty (Roberta Haynes), and helps the locals rise up against a cruel and authoritarian missionary. Successful, he stays to have a child with his slave/bride and then leaves the island after she dies while during childbirth. Years later, during WWII, Cooper returns to the paradise’ and meets his fully-grown daughter.’

Soon after making Return to Paradise, Roberta Haynes realized that acting was not her forte and became much more successful on the other side of the camera as an executive producer for TV programs.

production details
USA | United Artists | 100 minutes | 1953

Director: Mark Robson
Producers: Mark Robson, Theron Warth, Robert Wise
Director of Photography: Winton C. Hoch
Editing: Daniel Mandell
Music:Dimitri Tiomkin
Script: Charles Kaufman, James A. Michener

cast
Barry Jones as Pastor Corbett
Gary Cooper as Mr. Morgan
Roberta Haynes as Maeva
Moira Walker as Turia
John Hudson as Captain Harry Faber
Mamea Matatumua as Tonga (as Chief Mamea Matatumua)
Hans Kruse as Rori at age 21
Maylia as Maeva’s Aunt

• Seven Days to Noon (1950, Barry Jones, Olive Sloane)

• Appointment with Venus (1951, David Niven, Glynis Johns)

• Saint Joan (UA 1957, Jean Seberg, Richard Widmark)

• Alexander the Great (UA 1956, Richard Burton, Stanley Baker)

• 39 Steps, The (1959, Kenneth More, Taina Elg) 

• Taking a Shot at Love (Hallmark 2021, Alexa PenaVega, Luke Macfarlane)

• Snowkissed (Hallmark 2021, Jen Lilley, Chris McNally)

• A Winter Getaway (Hallmark 2021, Nazneen Contractor, Brooks Darnell)

• Two for the Win (Hallmark 2021, Trevor Donovan, Charlotte Sullivan)

• Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square (Netflix 2020, Dolly Parton, Christine Baranski)

• The Invisible Man (2020, Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge)

• If I Only Had Christmas (Hallmark 2020, Candace Cameron Bure, Warren Christie)