The Tuttles of Tahiti 1942

Chester Tuttle [Jon Hall] returns home to Tahiti after years away, welcomed by a carefree family led by Jonas Tuttle Charles Laughton, who lives with little concern for the future and does as little work as possible. Jonas frequently borrows money from Dr. Blondin [Victor Francen] that he never repays, a pattern that puts the whole household on edge. Chester has brought along a fighting rooster for Jonas’s cockfight against the sharp, savvy Emily [Florence Bates], a contrast to the Tuttles’ easygoing neglect of debt and duty.

The scheming Jensen [Curt Bois] persuades Dr. Blondin to transfer Jonas’s debt to him, tightening the noose around the family’s finances. In a bold gamble, Jonas signs a mortgage on the rundown family mansion, betting everything on the outcome of the fight. The rooster, however, proves to be a coward and flees the ring, leaving the Tuttles with the looming threat of losing their home.

Chester notices Tamara [Peggy Drake] has grown into a beautiful young woman, and she and a penniless wastrel share a growing romance, even as Emily makes it clear she will never sanction their marriage. To raise the mortgage payment, Chester, his brothers and nephew set out to sea to fish, only to endure a sudden and dangerous storm that strands them in peril. They survive and, in a surprising turn, discover an abandoned ship adrift. Under salvage laws, they claim ownership of the vessel and its cargo, a windfall that Jensen quickly buys for a staggering 400,000 francs.

Against Emily’s cautious counsel to invest wisely, Jonas deposits the newfound money into a joint checking account, withdrawing only what’s necessary to repay Blondin and issuing checkbooks to everyone in the family. With this wealth, Chester is able to marry Tamara, and life seems poised for happiness—at least for a moment. But creditors descend on Jonas, and the spendthrift Tuttles squander the fortune in rapid fashion, a reckoning that looms over them all.

When Jensen finally comes to collect, Jonas cannot locate the money he stashed away for Blondin, and Jensen seizes the mansion in payment. In a tense moment, Jensen spots the hidden funds while chasing Chester’s rooster and returns them to Blondin, effectively saving the Tuttle home at the last possible moment. Blondin, pragmatic and steady, grants Jonas a new loan to buy gas for the fishing boat, offering a narrow path back from ruin and a glimmer of stability for the family’s future.