The Isle of Lost Ships | |
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Directed by | Irvin Willat |
Written by | Fred Myton (scenario, dialogue, titles) Paul Perez (dialogue, titles) |
Based on | The Isle of Dead Ships by Crittenden Marriott |
Produced by | Richard A. Rowland |
Starring | Jason Robards Sr. Virginia Valli Noah Beery Sr. |
Cinematography | Sol Polito |
Edited by | John Rawlins |
Music by | Cecil Copping Alois Reiser |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
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Running time | 9 reels; 7,576 |
Country | United States |
Languages | Sound (All-Talking) English |
The Isle of Lost Ships is an all-talking 1929 sound film. The picture was produced by Richard A. Rowland and distributed by Warner Bros. Irvin Willat was the director with Jason Robards Sr., Virginia Valli and Noah Beery Sr. in the leads. It is based on the 1909 novel The Isle of Dead Ships by Crittenden Marriott, and is also a remake of Maurice Tourneur's now lost 1923 classic of the same name. A mute copy of this film is preserved at the Library of Congress. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] The Vitaphone discs which contain the soundtrack to the film are currently lost. An almost complete copy of the sound version of the film survives (reel four is missing) at the Eye Filmmuseum archive with an estimated running time of 55:58.
This article needs a plot summary.(December 2023) |
The film featured a theme song entitled "Ship Of My Dreams" which was composed by George W. Meyer and Al Bryan.
A contemporary review in Variety reported that "the originality of the story [...] shares honors with the weird effect established by sets and the camera angles at which they are focused," that "the sets and atmosphere [...] keep an audience ever interested and tense," and described the scene in which the character Howard is "shot through a torpedo tube" as sufficiently quick and active that it "helps lessen the impossible." [6] A contemporary review of the film in The New York Times reported that "the weird story is the strongest point and the acting negligible," that "[t]his queer tale, while not particularly helped by the addition of sound, appears as a relief from the musical films and those audible photoplays in which dialogue holds the centre of the screen," that the character Howard "not only knows all about ships, radios and women, but who also can man a submarine and teach a crew its operation in three minutes," and that "Virginia Valli does not do much more than scream a little now and then." [7]
The Show of Shows is a 1929 American pre-Code musical revue film directed by John G. Adolfi and distributed by Warner Bros. The all-talking Vitaphone production cost almost $800,000 and was shot almost entirely in Technicolor.
Virginia Valli was an American stage and film actress whose motion picture career started in the silent film era and lasted until the beginning of the sound film era of the 1930s.
Noah's Ark is a 1928 American part-talkie epic disaster film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Dolores Costello and George O'Brien. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system. The story is by Darryl F. Zanuck. The film was released by the Warner Bros. studio. Most scenes are silent with a synchronized music score and sound effects, in particular the biblical ones, while some scenes have dialogue.
Song of the Flame is a 1930 American pre-Code musical film photographed entirely in Technicolor. Based on the 1925 operetta of the same name, the film features a screenplay by Gordon Rigby adapted from the musical book written by Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto A. Harbach for the operetta. The movie also features many of the songs from the operetta which used lyrics by Hammerstein and Orbach and music by George Gershwin and Herbert Stothart. The film was produced and distributed by First National Pictures. It was the first color film to feature a widescreen sequence, using a process called Vitascope, the trademark name for Warner Bros.' widescreen process. The film, based on the 1925 Broadway musical of the same name, was nominated for an Academy Award for Sound Recording. It is part of the tradition of operetta films, popular at the time.
Showgirl in Hollywood is a 1930 American pre-Code all-talking musical film with Technicolor sequences, produced and distributed by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. The film stars Alice White, Jack Mulhall and Blanche Sweet. It was adapted from the 1929 novel Hollywood Girl by J.P. McEvoy.
Paris is a 1929 American pre-Code musical comedy film, featuring Irène Bordoni. It was filmed with Technicolor sequences: four of the film's ten reels were originally photographed in Technicolor.
On Trial is a 1928 American talking drama film produced and distributed by Warner Bros., and directed by Archie Mayo. The film starred Pauline Frederick, Lois Wilson, Bert Lytell, Holmes Herbert, and Jason Robards. The film is based on the 1914 Broadway play of the same name by Elmer Rice. A silent version of the film was also released on December 29, 1928.
The Third Degree is a 1926 American silent romance film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. and directed by Michael Curtiz, in his first American film. Starring Dolores Costello, it is based on the hit 1909 play of the same name written by Charles Klein that starred Helen Ware.
The Gamblers is a 1929 American drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, and starring H. B. Warner, Lois Wilson, and Jason Robards Sr. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros. It is considered to be a lost film.
Hearts in Exile is a 1929 American pre-Code romance film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. and directed by Michael Curtiz. It was also released in a silent version with music and effects. It starred Dolores Costello in a story based on the 1904 novel by John Oxenham. An earlier 1915 film starring Clara Kimball Young was also produced, and is extant, but the 1929 version is considered to be a lost film.
Sunset Pass is a 1933 American pre-Code Western film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Randolph Scott, Tom Keene, Harry Carey, and Noah Beery. The picture was based on a Zane Grey novel, along with several other theatrical films with similar casts also based upon Zane Grey novels directed by Hathaway in 1933.
(For the 1929 talkie see The Isle of Lost Ships )
The Heart of Maryland (1927) is a silent film costume Vitaphone drama produced and distributed by Warner Bros. and directed by Lloyd Bacon. The film stars Dolores Costello as the title character, and features Jason Robards, Sr. It is based on David Belasco's 1895 play The Heart of Maryland performed on Broadway. The film is the last silent version of the oft-filmed Victorian story, other versions having been produced in 1915 and 1921.
The Terror is a 1928 American pre-Code horror film written by Harvey Gates and directed by Roy Del Ruth, based on the 1927 play of the same name by Edgar Wallace. It was the second "all-talking" motion picture released by Warner Bros., following Lights of New York. It was also the first all-talking horror film, made using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system.
Isle of Escape is a 1930 American pre-Code film produced and released by Warner Bros. The film stars Monte Blue and Myrna Loy and is set in the South Seas. Blue had been playing man-stranded-on-island roles in such films as White Shadows in the South Seas at MGM towards the end of the silent era and continued doing so in this early talkie.
Tracked by the Police is a 1927 silent film produced and distributed by the Warner Bros. with a story written by Darryl Zanuck. It stars dog actor Rin Tin Tin. Ray Enright directed with 'Rinty's' costars being Jason Robards, Sr. and Virginia Brown Faire. The film may have had a Vitaphone sound effects/music track that is now lost. The film is preserved at the Library of Congress.
Jaws of Steel is a 1927 American synchronized sound family adventure film directed by Ray Enright and featuring dog star Rin Tin Tin and Jason Robards Sr. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc process. Warner Bros. produced and distributed the film. Darryl Zanuck, under the alias Gregory Rogers, wrote the story.
Hills of Kentucky is a 1927 American silent drama film directed by Howard Bretherton and written by Edward Clark. The film stars Rin Tin Tin, Jason Robards, Sr. and Dorothy Dwan. It was released by Warner Bros. on February 19, 1927.
Linda is a 1929 American sound drama film directed by Dorothy Davenport. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process.
White Flannels is a lost 1927 American drama film directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Louise Dresser, Jason Robards Sr., Virginia Brown Faire, Warner Richmond, George Nichols and Brooks Benedict. It was written by C. Graham Baker. The film was released by Warner Bros. on March 19, 1927.