Saturday Island | |
---|---|
Directed by | Stuart Heisler |
Screenplay by | Stuart Heisler Stephanie Nordli |
Story by | Stuart Heisler |
Based on | Saturday Island by Hugh Brook |
Produced by | David Rose |
Starring | Linda Darnell Tab Hunter Donald Gray |
Cinematography | Oswald Morris |
Edited by | Russell Lloyd |
Music by | William Alwyn |
Production company | Coronado Productions |
Distributed by | RKO Pictures United Artists (US) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 94 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Box office | $1.5 million (North America) [1] |
Saturday Island is a 1952 British south seas adventure romance film directed by Stuart Heisler and starring Linda Darnell, Tab Hunter, and Donald Gray. The film was produced by independent company Coronado Productions with the financial backing of RKO Pictures who distributed it in Britain. It was released in America by United Artists under the alternative title Island of Desire.
When a hospital ship strikes a mine during the Second World War, the only survivors are Lieutenant Elizabeth Smythe and Corporal Michael Dugan, who become marooned on an island in the South Pacific, where they slowly bond. Their relationship is complicated by the arrival of a third person, a survivor of a plane crash.
The film was based on a novel by Hugh Brooke which was published in 1935. The New York Times called it "a delightful adventure". [2] Film rights came into the hands of David E. Rose who set up the project in England under Warner Bros. Stuart Heisler signed to direct and Linda Darnell agreed to star, her first British film. [3] [4] Don Taylor was originally set to be Darnell's co star. [5] Donald Gray signed to play the second male lead. [6]
Location filming started in Jamaica on 1 July 1951. [7] The male lead eventually went to Tab Hunter. Hunter was recommended by Paul Guilfoyle a character actor who heard Heisler was looking for an unknown. Hunter went to see Heisler who asked the actor to take off his shirt. He tested on Saturday and by Monday was getting his passport to travel to Jamaica. [8] Interiors were shot at Walton Studios near London. The film's sets were designed by the art director John Howell.
Kim Hunter was an American theatre, film, and television actress. She achieved prominence for portraying Stella Kowalski in the original production of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, which she reprised for the 1951 film adaptation, and won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Mogambo is a 1953 Technicolor adventure/romantic drama film directed by John Ford and starring Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, and Grace Kelly, and featuring Donald Sinden. Shot on location in Equatorial Africa, with a musical soundtrack consisting entirely of actual African tribal music recorded in the Congo, the film was adapted by John Lee Mahin from the play Red Dust by Wilson Collison. The picture is a remake of Red Dust (1932), which was set in Vietnam and also starred Gable in the same role.
Linda Darnell was an American actress. Darnell progressed from modeling as a child to acting in theater and film. At the encouragement of her mother, she made her first film in 1939, and appeared in supporting roles in big-budget films for 20th Century Fox throughout the 1940s. She co-starred with Tyrone Power in adventure films, and established a main character career after her role in Forever Amber (1947). She won critical acclaim for her work in Unfaithfully Yours (1948) and A Letter to Three Wives (1949).
Tab Hunter was an American actor, singer, film producer, and author. Known for his blond hair and clean-cut good looks, Hunter starred in more than forty films. During the 1950s and 1960s, in his twenties and thirties, Hunter was a Hollywood-heartthrob, acting in numerous roles and appearing on the covers of hundreds of magazines. His notable screen credits include Battle Cry (1955), The Girl He Left Behind (1956), Gunman's Walk (1958), and Damn Yankees (1958). Hunter also had a music career in the late 1950s; in 1957, he released a no. 1 hit single "Young Love". Hunter's 2005 autobiography, Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star, was a New York Times bestseller.
Blackbeard the Pirate is a 1952 Technicolor adventure film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Robert Newton, Linda Darnell, William Bendix, Keith Andes, and Torin Thatcher. The film was made by RKO Radio Pictures and produced by Edmund Grainger from a screenplay by Alan Le May based on the story by DeVallon Scott.
The film appearances of movie actor Errol Flynn (1909–1959) are listed here, including his short films and one unfinished feature.
What Price Glory is a 1952 American Technicolor war film based on a 1924 play by Maxwell Anderson and Laurence Stallings, though it used virtually none of Anderson's dialogue. Originally intended as a musical, it was filmed as a straight comedy-drama, directed by John Ford and released by 20th Century Fox on August 22, 1952, in the U.S. The screenplay was written by Phoebe and Henry Ephron, and stars James Cagney and Dan Dailey as US Marines in World War I.
Pine-Thomas Productions was a prolific B-picture unit of Paramount Pictures from 1940–1957, producing 81 films. Co-producers William H. Pine and William C. Thomas were known as the "Dollar Bills" because none of their economically made films ever lost money. "We don't want to make million dollar pictures," they said. "We just want to make a million dollars."
The Red Beret is a 1953 British-American war film directed by Terence Young and starring Alan Ladd, Leo Genn and Susan Stephen.
Francis Covers the Big Town is a 1953 American black-and-white comedy film from Universal-International, produced by Leonard Goldstein, directed by Arthur Lubin, that stars Donald O'Connor, Yvette Duguay, and Gene Lockhart. The distinctive voice of Francis is a voice-over by actor Chill Wills.
Robin Hughes was a British film and television actor.
The Burning Hills is a 1956 American CinemaScope Western directed by Stuart Heisler and starring Tab Hunter and Natalie Wood, based on a 1956 novel by Louis L'Amour.
Valentino is a 1951 American biographical film directed by Lewis Allen and starring Eleanor Parker.
Lydia Bailey is a 1952 American historical adventure film directed by Jean Negulesco and starring Dale Robertson, Anne Francis and Charles Korvin. It was made by 20th Century Fox and based on the 1947 novel of the same name by Kenneth Roberts.
The Brigand is a 1952 American adventure romance film directed by Phil Karlson and starring Anthony Dexter, Jody Lawrance and Anthony Quinn. It is the second film that Anthony Dexter made for producer Edward Small for Columbia Pictures after his debut in Valentino.
Flame of Araby is a 1951 American Technicolor adventure film directed by Charles Lamont starring Maureen O'Hara and Jeff Chandler. British film star Maxwell Reed made his American film debut in the picture. Locations were shot at three famous film locations: Vasquez Rocks, Bronson Canyon, and the Alabama Hills in Lone Pine, California.
Sombrero is a 1953 American musical romance film directed by Norman Foster and starring Ricardo Montalbán, Pier Angeli, Vittorio Gassman and Cyd Charisse.
Earl Felton (1909–1972) was an American screenwriter.
Jack McCall, Desperado is a 1953 American Western film directed by Sidney Salkow and starring George Montgomery. It portrays the historical shooting of Wild Bill Hickok by Jack McCall in 1876.
Slaves of Babylon is a 1953 American adventure film directed by William Castle and starring Richard Conte and Linda Christian