Island of Doomed Men

Okay so this is NOT "Island of Lost Souls" or "The Big House" but I do think that fans of Peter Lorre would enjoy it. No need to hash out the plot here, and yes of course this is nothing more than a 1940s B-Movie. Nonetheless, if you grew up decades ago and have fond memories of staying up late and watching the old horror movies and science fiction monster movies on TV over the weekends, then watching this movie might be an enjoyable way to spend a late Friday or Saturday night, even though it's more of a "semi-noir" movie instead of a horror film.

Island Of Doomed Men has Peter Lorre in the lead as the lord and master of his own private island where he has convict labor assigned there and has them digging for diamonds.

It doesn't look like the men are finding a lot of diamonds, but Lorre is sure living well, complete with trophy wife in Rochelle Hudson.

In a rather stupidly handled plot Robert Wilcox plays a government agent sent to investigate. He's convicted on a real murder charge though. I attribute the clumsy handling to some bad editing.

Not a great picture, but Lorre carries the whole thing with a Doctor Moreau like character. He may not be doing experiments on animals, but he's sure getting his jollies.

Peter Lorre fans will like this.

Special agent Sheldon (Robert Wilcox) is sent to a desolate island where Danel (Peter Lorre) keeps convicts for forced labour. Danel took his wife Lorraine (Rochelle Hudson) to the island, but the promise of a tropical paradise was not exactly true; meanwhile she hates him. Sheldon now has the double task to put an end to the slave trade methods of Danel and help Lorraine to escape, while the prisoners don't sympathize with him, either.

Peter Lorre (previously starring in the Mr Moto series) is a brilliant villain in this movie. With his quiet voice and mild manners, he becomes menacing like a devil in disguise. I remember Rochelle Hudson from "The Savage Girl", she also appeared in one of Lorre's Mr Moto movies. The problem of the movie is that the hero (Wilcox) doesn*t make a big impression; partly that is in the script because he has to keep his mouth shut not to reveal his identity to Danel. Still the movie is worth watching for its dominant villain.

This delicious low camp kinkfest proves that studio-era censorship wasn't nearly as thorough as it's purported to have been. In what seems almost like a rehearsal for the tormented lustmurderer Dr. Rothe in "Der Verlorene," Lorre gives unexpected depth and nuance to the melodramatic villain Stephen Danel, with just a dash of his patented quirky humor. Though the film itself is crude and pulpy, with an extreme BDSM quotient (Danel's prisoners are kept in line with cat o' nine tails, as, it's strongly implied, is Mrs. Danel) Lorre's deft performance lifts "Island of Dommed Men" from the realm of the ridiculous into sublimity.

The basic story of Island of Doomed Men seems to be based on the true story of Narvassa Island. The main difference was in real life, the men were mining guano, not diamonds and they were black contract workers from the Balitmore area, not paroled convicts. Like in the movie, the men were treated brutally like slaves. This eventually led to an uprising with several of the overseers murdered. Some of the black workers were then put on trial for murder but when the true story of what was allowed to occur was publicized, they were pardoned by President Harrison. Narvassa Island, located between Cuba and Haiti, was designated a wildlife refuge in the 1990s.