It's why the tropics are hot. In the early days of World War II, Marine Sgt. James O'Hearn brawls his way from China to a palm-fringed isle, from barroom to brig, from romance with a beautiful gal to rivalry with a leatherneck pal, and from tough-guy combat to wiseguy comedy in the spirited South Sea Woman. As O'Hearn, screen icon Burt Lancaster flashes his million-dollar grin, flexes his muscular knack for heroics and delivers the kind of tongue-in-cheek adventure that made The Flame and the Arrow and The Crimson Pirate such rousing crowd- pleasers. With his Flame costar Virginia Mayo matching him quip for quip and Chuck Connors matching him fist for fist, Lancaster turns the Pacific into an ocean of action.