Isle of Forgotten Sins

Last updated
Isle of Forgotten Sins
Isle of Forgotten Sins (movie poster).jpg
Original lobby card
Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
Screenplay by Raymond L. Schrock
Based onoriginal story
by Edgar G. Ulmer
Produced by Leon Fromkess
(in charge of production)
Peter R. Van Duinen
(producer)
Starring John Carradine
Gale Sondergaard
Cinematography Ira Morgan, A.S.C.
Edited by Charles Henkel Jr.
Music by Erdody
Production
company
Atlantis Pictures Corporation
Distributed by PRC
Release date
  • August 15, 1943 (1943-08-15)
Running time
82 min/74 min.
CountryUnited States
Language English

Isle of Forgotten Sins is an American South Seas adventure film released on August 15, 1943 by PRC, with Leon Fromkess in charge of production, directed by Edgar G. Ulmer (also credited with original story) and featuring top-billed John Carradine and Gale Sondergaard whose performance in one of 1936's Academy Award for Best Picture nominees, Anthony Adverse , earned her the first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Contents

Isle of Forgotten Sins was subsequently reissued in a version cut from 82 to 74 minutes and retitled Monsoon. It proved to be the final film role for German-American actress Betty Amann as well as the last feature for producer Peter R. Van Duinen's Atlantis Pictures, a unit whose films had a higher budget then most of PRC's releases. [1] Third-listed supporting actor Sidney Toler worked on this PRC title between the finish of his Charlie Chan films at 20th Century Fox and just before their resumption at Monogram Pictures. The film features several songs (with Carradine singing "Whiskey Johnny"), an underwater sequence using a marionette and a tropical monsoon climax. The pre-release working title was Island of Forgotten Sins.

Plot

Marge (Gale Sondergaard) is the proprietress of a South Sea Island gambling hall/brothel called "Isle of Forgotten Sins". In the morning, she knocks on the doors of the individual rooms of her sleeping hostesses, Olga (Betty Amann), Bobbie (Patti McCarty), Mimi (Marian Colby), and Christine (Tala Birell).

On a small boat moored in the harbor, its owner, deep sea diver Jack Burke (Frank Fenton), is shaving in preparation of visiting Marge's place, while his diving partner Mike Clancy (John Carradine) awakens from drunken sleep to find that Burke has tied him to the bunk bed. He offers to pay for drinks if Burke unties him, but Burke wants to see the cash first. Clancy tells him that it's in his pocket, so Burke reaches in, takes all of it, and leaves without untying him.

Burke goes to Marge's place and tries to woo Marge, who is in love with Clancy. He tells her Clancy has died in a boating accident and asks the distraught Marge to go away with him. At that moment Clancy arrives and, enraged by Burke's treachery, beats him unconscious in a fistfight. After Burke comes to, Clancy tells him that he has recognized two guests in the room as Krogan (Sidney Toler) and Johnny Pacific (Rick Vallin), the captain and purser of the steamship Tropic Star which, six months earlier, disappeared in the Coral Sea with three million dollars in gold. Clancy says that they must have hidden the loot, but "we can find it first". After he and Burke leave Marge's place, a scream is heard from upstairs, then a shot, and a customer staggers and falls from the upper landing, dead. Olga is seen running from the scene with a gun in her hand. Seeking to disappear before police arrive, Krogan, Johnny and the diners rush for the exits. Marge and her girls head for Burke's boat.

Clancy tells the women of his and Burke's plan as the boat sets off for Marana island, where Krogan and Johnny run a plantation. The arrival is noted through binoculars by Krogan, who had predicted Burke and Clancy would try to steal his gold. He tells Johnny and native girl Luana (Veda Ann Borg) that "our little game of hide and seek is about to begin". Burke, Clancy and the women arrive at Krogan's house. As a pretext for visiting the island, Marge explains to Krogan that "things got too hot for us at Pango Ango after what happened"; she asks if he could "put us up for a few days until we can make other plans".

As the women, Krogan and Johnny Pacific go for a night swim, Clancy and Burke steal off to search the house. They find the Tropic Star log, with a map that indicates that the gold is still underwater on the ship, waiting to be salvaged. In fact, the map has been placed there by Krogan for Burke and Clancy to find; Krogan's plan is to lure them into doing the hazardous work of recovering the gold which he will then seize for himself.

The next morning, Clancy and Burke take turns descending in diving suits. On the island, Krogan and Johnny are watching through binoculars as the trunk full of bullion is raised. Burke announces to Clancy that he is claiming 60 percent of the loot because he provided the boat and the crew. Clancy protests and they start a violent struggle during which Krogan, Johnny and their men board the boat. Krogan draws a gun and orders Clancy and Burke into the boat's back room; Johnny nails the door shut. As they board their small launch, Krogan and Johnny light a fuse to explosives which they attached to Burke's boat. Seconds before the boat explodes, Clancy and Burke escape.

As a violent storm rages, Krogan, Johnny and the five natives return to the island, where Krogan asks, "well, any of you gals ever see what three million dollars looks like?" Marge asks what happened to Clancy; Krogan answers that "they're down at the bottom of the lagoon, along with the Tropic Star". Krogan announces that he is no longer interested in sharing the loot with Johnny, whom he accuses of planning to double-cross him. Johnny pulls out his gun and they shoot simultaneously, killing each other. Just then, Clancy enters with Burke. Luana points a gun at them, but Burke disarms her. As Clancy proclaims, "Marge we're rich", storm winds hit the thatched house which is then washed away by the surging waves.

In a coda, an overhead sign marks the entrance to "The Bird Cage Cafe". Inside, Marge is seated at the cash register, with what appears to be a large framed photograph of Diane and Burke as a happy couple, propped up against it, while Clancy, wearing a captain's cap and jacket, surveys the place, then sits by her and says, "I'll have to put the bite on you for about fifty dollars", explaining that he'll tell her more later, adding, "you haven't forgotten about that bungalow on the Riviera, have you?" She gives him the money and rings up "NO SALE".

Cast

Soundtrack

Ulmer's contract with PRC made him the only producer to be able to commission music rather than use stock cues. [2] Composer Leo Erdody, a long time friend of Ulmer [3] included several Wagnerian themes and songs.

Production

The film was shot at Corriganville movie ranch in six days at a cost of $23,000. [4] Ulmer, who was a production assistant on F. W. Murnau's Tabu: A Story of the South Seas found 200 miniature trees from John Ford's 1937 film The Hurricane [5] and wrote a South Seas story based on ideas he had while filming Tabu. Ulmer, "The Frank Capra of PRC". [2] also reused footage from PRC's Jungle Siren . The Production Code Administration insisted that the nightclub hostesses of the film in no way could resemble prostitutes. The original ending depicting the self-sacrificing watery suicide of Clancy and Marge to save Diane was ordered changed. [6]

Evaluation in film guides

Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide (2001 edition) gives Isle of Forgotten Sins 2 stars (out of 4) calling it a "standard programmer", but concludes that "as usual, Ulmer's direction is much better than the material".

Also assigning 2 stars (out of 5), The Motion Picture Guide (1987 edition) describes it as "a jumpy and only partly engaging picture that seems to have been rearranged thanks to the Hays Code, this film had one of the best casts ever put together by poverty-row PRC", and the specialized 1996 compendium, Michael J. Weldon's Psychotronic Video Guide , has a brief two-sentence write-up which mentions the plot and cast, along with notation that "Carradine starred in Ulmer's better-known Bluebeard , also from PRC".

Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever (2011 edition) agrees with the other guides in its 2 bones (out of 4) rating, deciding that it has "good cast and direction but unremarkable material", while among the British volumes, Halliwell's Film, Video & DVD Guide (2007 edition) provides no star rating (Halliwell's highest rating is 4 stars), describing it as a "patchy tropical melodrama with a cast more interesting than the script".

Critical reappraisal

Michael E. Grost in The Films of Edgar G. Ulmer]: examines Isle of Forgotten Sins for traits which are frequently perceived within other films directed by Ulmer, with comparisons found in The Man from Planet X (1951), Detour and Strange Illusion (both 1945), The Amazing Transparent Man (1960), Tomorrow We Live (1942), as well as My Son, the Hero and Jive Junction (both 1943). Sections focusing on themes in Isle of Forgotten Sins common to Ulmer's work are highlighted by sub-headers: "Technical, Constructivist Worlds", "Telling the Story with Light", "Weather", "The Night Club", "Modular Architecture", "Figurines", "Tilted Camera Angle", "Characters", "The Finale" and "Uniforms."

In The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture: Liberty vs. Authority in American Film and TV, Paul Cantor writes about Isle of Forgotten Sins apropos his discussion of the use of classical music in Ulmer's Black Cat, [7] referring readers to Andrew Repasky McElhinney's essay, “A World Destroyed By Gold: Shared Allegories of Capital in Wagner’s Ring and Ulmer’s Isle of Forgotten Sins,” in The Films of Edgar G. Ulmer (ed. Bernd Herzogenrath, Scarecrow Press, 2009) for "detailed analysis" [8] of Erdody's appropriation of Wagner.

Related Research Articles

<i>Detour</i> (1945 film) 1945 film directed by Edgar G. Ulmer

Detour is a 1945 American independent film noir directed by Edgar G. Ulmer starring Tom Neal and Ann Savage. The screenplay was adapted by Martin Goldsmith and Martin Mooney (uncredited) from Goldsmith's 1939 novel of the same title, and released by the Producers Releasing Corporation, one of the so-called Poverty Row film studios in mid-20th-century Hollywood. The film, which today is in the public domain and freely available for viewing at various online sources, was restored by the Academy Film Archive in 2018. In April that year, the 4K restoration premiered in Los Angeles at the TCM Festival. A Blu-Ray and DVD was released in March 2019 from the Criterion Collection. In 1992, Detour was selected for the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edgar G. Ulmer</span> American film director, set designer

Edgar Georg Ulmer was a Jewish-Moravian, Austrian-American film director who mainly worked on Hollywood B movies and other low-budget productions, eventually earning the epithet 'The King of PRC', due to his extremely prolific output for the Poverty Row studio. His stylish and eccentric works came to be appreciated by auteur theory-espousing film critics in the years following his retirement. Ulmer's most famous productions include the horror film The Black Cat (1934) and the film noir Detour (1945).

<i>The Baby of Mâcon</i> 1993 film directed by Peter Greenaway

The Baby of Mâcon is a 1993 historical drama film written and directed by Peter Greenaway, and starring Ralph Fiennes, Julia Ormond and Philip Stone, in his final film appearance.

<i>The Invisible Mans Revenge</i> 1944 film by Ford Beebe

The Invisible Man's Revenge is a 1944 American horror film directed by Ford Beebe and written by Bertram Millhauser. The film stars John Carradine as a scientist who tests his experiment on a psychiatric hospital escapee, played by Jon Hall, who takes the invisibility serum and then goes on a crime spree. The film was announced on June 10, 1943, and began shooting on January 10, 1944 finishing in mid-February. On its release, reviews in The New York Herald-Tribune, The New York Daily News and The New York World-Telegram noted that the film series and its special effects became tired, while a review in The Hollywood Reporter declared it as one of the best in the series. Although Hall’s character shares the name “Griffin” with characters in other Universal “invisible man” films, the film does not follow the continuity of the series.

<i>Tarzan the Magnificent</i> 1960 film by Robert Day

Tarzan the Magnificent is a 1960 British Eastmancolor film, the follow-up to Tarzan's Greatest Adventure (1959) and the twenty-third film of the Tarzan film series that began with 1932's Tarzan the Ape Man. Its plot bears no relation to that of the 1939 Edgar Rice Burroughs novel of the same name. The film was directed by Robert Day and produced by Sy Weintraub and Harvey Hayutin. Gordon Scott made his last appearance as Tarzan in the film, while Jock Mahoney appeared as villain Coy Banton. Mahoney would take over the Tarzan role himself beginning in the next film, Tarzan Goes to India, in 1962. The motion picture does not include Jane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John J. Mescall</span> American cinematographer

John J. Mescall, A.S.C. was an American cinematographer. He photographed such silent films as Ernst Lubitsch's The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927), but he is best known for his work in the 1930s at Universal Pictures, where he often worked on the films of James Whale. Mescall was famous for his elaborate, some might say grandiose, effective camera movements, in which the camera would often track completely across or around a set, or even one performer. He did not always use these kinds of camera movements, but his most famous films all have them.

A monsoon is a seasonal prevailing wind which lasts for several months.

<i>Bluebeard</i> (1944 film) 1944 film by Edgar George Ulmer

Bluebeard is a 1944 film noir directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, starring John Carradine in the title role. The film also stars Jean Parker. The film is based on the famous French tale Barbe bleue that tells the story of a violent nobleman in the habit of murdering his wives and the attempts of one wife to avoid the fate of her predecessors. The film is registered in the public domain.

<i>Ruthless</i> (1948 film) 1948 film by Edgar George Ulmer

Ruthless is a 1948 American film noir drama film directed by Edgar G. Ulmer starring Zachary Scott, Sydney Greenstreet and Louis Hayward.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Betty Amann</span> German-American actress (1905–1990)

Philippine Amann, known professionally as Betty Amann, was an American film actress. Born to American parents in the German Empire, she began her acting career in the United States with the film The Kick-Off (1926). She is perhaps best known for her role in Asphalt (1929).

<i>A Night to Remember</i> (1942 film) 1942 film by Richard Wallace

A Night to Remember is a mystery comedy film starring Loretta Young and Brian Aherne. It was directed by Richard Wallace, and is based on the novel The Frightened Stiff by Audrey Roos and William Roos. A mystery writer and his wife try to solve a murder when a corpse is found outside their Greenwich Village apartment.

<i>The Outsider</i> (2002 film) 2002 film

The Outsider is a 2002 Western television film starring Tim Daly and Naomi Watts. The film is based on Penelope Williamson's novel. It was first aired on Showtime on November 10, 2002.

<i>Hitlers Madman</i> 1943 film

Hitler's Madman is a 1943 World War II drama directed by Douglas Sirk. It is a fictionalized account of the 1942 assassination of Nazi official Reinhard Heydrich and the resulting Lidice massacre, which the Germans committed as revenge. The film stars Patricia Morison and Alan Curtis and features John Carradine as Reinhard Heydrich. Sirk intended the film to function more as a documentary, but after Louis B. Mayer acquired the film in February 1943, he required reshoots to increase the drama. According to TCM, “Added material included Heydrich's deathbed scene with "Himmler" and university scenes featuring M-G-M starlets, including Ava Gardner.”

<i>Girls in Chains</i> 1943 film by Edgar George Ulmer

Girls in Chains is a 1943 American women in prison film directed by Edgar G. Ulmer and starring Arline Judge.

<i>Hurricane Smith</i> (1952 film) 1952 film by Jerry Hopper

Hurricane Smith is a 1952 American adventure film directed by Jerry Hopper and starring Yvonne de Carlo, John Ireland, James Craig, Forrest Tucker, Lyle Bettger and Richard Arlen.

<i>Apology for Murder</i> 1945 film by Sam Newfield

Apology for Murder is a 1945 American film noir directed by Sam Newfield and starring Ann Savage, Hugh Beaumont, Russell Hicks and Charles D. Brown.

Leo Erdody was an American film composer of Hungarian descent. He studied music in Germany, and later went to Hollywood, scoring his first film in 1921. He later joined Producers Releasing Corporation and scored several films for them. For his work on Minstrel Man, he was a nominee for an Academy Award for Best Original Score.

<i>Club Havana</i> 1945 film by Edgar George Ulmer

Club Havana is a 1945 American film drama directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. It was produced and released by independent film company Producers Releasing Corporation. It has been compared to the 1933 film Grand Hotel.

<i>Her Sisters Secret</i> 1946 film by Edgar George Ulmer

Her Sister's Secret is a 1946 American drama film directed by Edgar G. Ulmer and starring Nancy Coleman, Margaret Lindsay, Phillip Reed, and Regis Toomey. It centers around a woman who falls in love with a soldier. Believing she has been abandoned, she gives her baby to her married sister. The picture was produced and distributed by Producers Releasing Corporation. The screenplay was by Anne Green from the novel Dark Angel by Gina Kaus.

<i>The Cat Creature</i> 1973 television film by Curtis Harrington

The Cat Creature is a 1973 American made-for-television horror film produced by Douglas S. Cramer and directed by Curtis Harrington from a teleplay by Robert Bloch and starring Meredith Baxter, David Hedison and Gale Sondergaard. The film serves as a tribute to the low-budget Val Lewton horror films of the 1940s and also features an appearance by Kent Smith, who starred in Lewton's original classic Cat People (1942) and its sequel The Curse of the Cat People (1944). It originally premiered as the ABC Movie of the Week on December 11, 1973.

References

  1. ↑ p.10 Bock, Hans-Michael & Bergfelder, Tim. The Concise Cinegraph: Encyclopaedia of German Cinema Berghahn Books, 30/12/2009
  2. 1 2 p.10 Rhodes, Gary. Edgar G. Ulmer: Detour on Poverty Row. Rowman & Littlefield, 30/12/2009
  3. ↑ p.238. Weaver, Tom. Shirley Ulmer Interview in I Was a Monster Movie Maker: conversations with 22 SF and Horror Filmmakers McFarland, 2001
  4. ↑ p.146 Belton, John Cinema Stylists Scarecrow Press, 1983
  5. ↑ p. 4. Sterritt, David & Anderson, John. National Society of Film Critics The B List: The National Society of Film Critics on the Low-Budget Beauties, Genre-Bending Mavericks, and Cult Classics We Love Da Capo Press, 07/10/2008
  6. ↑ Turner Classic Movies notes regarding production of Isle of Forgotten Sins
  7. ↑ Cantor, Paul. The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture: Liberty vs. Authority in American Film and TV. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2012. Pages 223-242.
  8. ↑ Cantor, Paul. The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture: Liberty vs. Authority in American Film and TV. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2012. Page 404.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.