Moving to ICM after IMDb stupidly shut down its message boards,I decided to take part in a poll on the best titles of 1940. Originally planning to end my viewings with the Peter Lorre-starring Stranger on the Third Floor,I was sadly unable to find the movie in time,but thankfully stumbled on another 1940 Lorre film which looked like it had a similar mood,which led to me going to the island.
The plot:
Working undercover with his partner, undercover secret service agent Mark Sheldon is told by his friend that he has found out about a desert island where men are being sent to for modern slavery. Just before he reveals who is in charge of the island,Sheldon's pal is shot in the back. Desperate to get his revenge,Sheldon goes deeper undercover in order to secure his own tickets to the sadistic island.
View on the film:
Shooting Sheldon's friend in the back with ultra-stylish low lighting,director Charles Barton & cinematographer Benjamin H. Kline swing the fruit of the jungle between early proto-Film Noir espionage and burning hot proto-007 "Adventure." Peeling open baddie Stephen Danel's lair,Barton make up a hideout worthy of Bond,as Barton and Kline cover the island in bright lights that create a scorching hot atmosphere.
Kept to a smooth 68 minutes,the screenplay by Robert Hardy Andrews keeps the action on a razor edge,via pulling Sheldon out of his big city Noir and into a jungle where he is out of his depths. Whilst keeping Sheldon's manner blunt,Andrews gives the flick shots of a mischievous nature by giving Danel peculiar edges that includes a hatred for a rather cute monkey. Joined by a rough and ready Robert Wilcox as Sheldon and a glamorous Rochelle Hudson as island babe Lorraine Danel, Stephen Danel deliciously chews every scene as Peter Lorre,thanks to Lorre linking Danel's menace with a wicked playfulness,on the island of doomed men.
The plot:
Working undercover with his partner, undercover secret service agent Mark Sheldon is told by his friend that he has found out about a desert island where men are being sent to for modern slavery. Just before he reveals who is in charge of the island,Sheldon's pal is shot in the back. Desperate to get his revenge,Sheldon goes deeper undercover in order to secure his own tickets to the sadistic island.
View on the film:
Shooting Sheldon's friend in the back with ultra-stylish low lighting,director Charles Barton & cinematographer Benjamin H. Kline swing the fruit of the jungle between early proto-Film Noir espionage and burning hot proto-007 "Adventure." Peeling open baddie Stephen Danel's lair,Barton make up a hideout worthy of Bond,as Barton and Kline cover the island in bright lights that create a scorching hot atmosphere.
Kept to a smooth 68 minutes,the screenplay by Robert Hardy Andrews keeps the action on a razor edge,via pulling Sheldon out of his big city Noir and into a jungle where he is out of his depths. Whilst keeping Sheldon's manner blunt,Andrews gives the flick shots of a mischievous nature by giving Danel peculiar edges that includes a hatred for a rather cute monkey. Joined by a rough and ready Robert Wilcox as Sheldon and a glamorous Rochelle Hudson as island babe Lorraine Danel, Stephen Danel deliciously chews every scene as Peter Lorre,thanks to Lorre linking Danel's menace with a wicked playfulness,on the island of doomed men.