The Secret of Blood Island

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The Secret of Blood Island
"The Secret of Blood Island" (1964).jpg
UK theatrical release poster
Directed by Quentin Lawrence
Written by John Gilling
Produced by Anthony Nelson Keys
Starring Jack Hedley
Barbara Shelley
Patrick Wymark
Charles Tingwell
Cinematography Jack Asher
Edited byTom Simpson
Music by James Bernard
Production
company
Distributed by J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors (UK)
Release dates
  • 27 April 1965 (1965-04-27)(US)
  • 13 June 1965 (1965-06-13)(UK)
Running time
84 min
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The Secret of Blood Island (also known as P.O.W.) is a 1965 British war film directed by Quentin Lawrence and starring Jack Hedley, Barbara Shelley and Patrick Wymark. [1] [2]

Contents

The film is a prequel to the 1958 film The Camp on Blood Island .

Premise

British Prisoners of War help a wounded female agent, Elaine, to escape the Japanese during the Second World War.

Main cast

Production

The film was shot in Eastmancolor and released that way in Britain, but the U.S. prints were in black & white. [3]

Reception

The film was not as well received as Camp of Blood Island.[ citation needed ]Michael Ripper later said, "thought the story was very dodgy. I don't give a damn how hungry you are, if you haven't seen a bird in four years, or whatever it was, she'd have been stampeded, wouldn’t she? Somebody must have had the strength. I don't believe the story at all, but I must admit I had a good part in it." [4]

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Grotesquely inefficient melodrama, burdened with a ludicrous script, unconvincing settings, and Goonish impersonations of wicked Japanese from Patrick Wymark and Michael Ripper. Only Jack Hedley and Lee Montague come out of this sorry affair with any sort of credit." [5]

The Guardian called it "nasty". [6]

TV Guide called the film "fairly silly". [3]

The Radio Times called it "lurid but fairly enjoyable." [7]

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References

  1. ↑ "The Secret of Blood Island". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  2. ↑ "The Secret of Blood Island". BFI. Archived from the original on 29 January 2009.
  3. 1 2 "The Secret Of Blood Island". TVGuide.com.
  4. ↑ Sheridan, Bob. "History of Hammer Part 7". Halls of Horror. No. 27. p. 43.
  5. ↑ "The Secret of Blood Island". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 32 (372): 112. 1 January 1965 – via ProQuest.
  6. ↑ Bergman in lighter vein The Guardian 28 June 1965: 4.
  7. ↑ Rose Thompson. "The Secret of Blood Island". RadioTimes.


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