Gow The Killer

This is an interesting document of an expedition to the more remote and dangerous South Sea Islands in the 1920s. Originally shot as a silent movie, most of the intertitles have been removed and replaced by a snappy 1930s narration, which can be overtly racist at times, but on a few- very few- occasions does show sensitivity to the subject matter. The material gives glimpses into peoples and places that are either vanished or only visible in much more turgid documentaries. The film moves right along and holds one's interest, although the film quality has clearly suffered with age. The best part is the last- we at last meet the eponymous Gow and see a re-enactment of his tribes' raid of another island.