Flame of the Islands

She is no Ava Gardner and no Rita Hayworth, but reminds of both. In fact, Ava Gardner would have done perfectly in this role, if you forget about the singing - not even Rita Hayworth would have made singing performances like that, although Yvonne's dancing isn't bad at all. And what about all the guys around her? Zachary Scott is all right and is the one who behaves well. The less said about Kurt Kasznar, the better. Howard Duff was promising indeed, the perfect man to marry, but then there was all that business about his mother, who couldn't live without him, and a godmother on top of that, who is even more possessive. The ladies play the major part in this Caribbean soap opera, although the story and intrigue is quite good and fascinating. Yvonne de Carlo remains the one star of the film, outshining everyone else and dominating every scene. Although the script is good, the dialog could have been better. The hoodlums add some spice into the soup. It's great entertainment in gorgeous surroundings, all the best in the Caribbean, but apparently the budget was a minimum, the screening is poor, and the direction seems rather casual. Nevertheless, the film is definitely worth seeing for the sake of Yvonne de Carlo and her character.

Flame of the Islands is usually described as a story of a woman and the men in her life, but the heart of the story is about three women: Rosalind Dee, (Yvonne de Carlo); the woman of whose husband she was supposedly mistress, (Frieda Inescort), and the mother of the boy she had loved as a teenager, (Barbara O'Neil). Rosalind is a good woman corrupted by a desire for revenge over the woman who had destroyed her chance for happiness by separating her from the boy she loved as a teenager, but her revenge, small as it is, redounds on people she has every wish not to hurt. That part of the story is fascinating, and one could wish that the story were used in a more substantial production. Unfortunately, the movie ends with a bit of cheap melodrama not related to that storyline. James Arness plays a lay preacher, and one can't help loving a movie with the line: "OK, boys, stand up. Sing "Jesus Loves Me."

The film has a fine score by Nelson Riddle, incorporating two songs sung by Yvonne de Carlo which are wry commentary on the plot.

I'm sure the cast and crew of Flame Of The Islands was grateful to Herbert J. Yates and Republic Pictures for a nice vacation in the Bahamas which were still a British colony when the film was released. The scenic cinematography of the Bahamas is the best thing that this film has going for it next to Yvonne DeCarlo's beauty. A pair of natural wonders.

As to the film itself it's a muddled cross between an action adventure film and a Back Street soap opera which I had trouble figuring out. Career woman DeCarlo is summoned by the widow Frieda Inescourt and given $100,000.00 in hush money as DeCarlo was Inescourt's late husband's Katharine Hepburn to his Spencer Tracy.

She takes the money and goes to the Bahamas to invest it in a new gambling club with Kurt Kaszner and on general principles one does not go into business with Kaszner and the characters he plays. Along for the ride is Zachary Scott. While in the Bahamas she meets up with both preacher/beachcomber James Arness and society lion Howard Duff and his Barbara O'Neil. Back when she was a teen Duff did her wrong.

One thing that you can rely on is that every male member in this cast was panting hot and heavy for Yvonne. Even the gangsters that Kaszner brought in as silent partners were giving her the once over. Who in this soap opera will Yvonne wind up with. That's for you to find out by watching.

A most subpar soap opera helped by Yvonne DeCarlo and those low cuts items she wears.

An enjoyable escapist fantasy shot in gleaming Trucolor in which Yvonne De Carlo sashays about the Bahamas while plainly seldom leaving the studio.

The men are mainly there to be infatuated with her. The competition comes in the form of two neurotic middle-aged women united in their loathing of De Carlo: the cool Frieda Inescort (playing an invalid with a stick and in reality already suffering from multiple sclerosis), and Barbara O'Neal - best remembered as Scarlett O'Hara's mother in 'Gone With the Wind' - again playing an ill-fated mother, this time Howard Duff's.

Merely it had been filmed as an A movie it would have been a great movie since it has all the elements to be a hit: beautiful scenery and sets, scandal, money, and splendid Yvonne the Carlo at her best. Sadly, Republic was not MGM and so they made a B movie instead. Dance and sing scenes do not quite fit Miss de Carlo's style, choreography especially. Still, they are nice to watch and she looks gorgeous. Doug Duryea's character would have fit much better to Zachary Scott -who is totally wasted and has little to do with his role- rather than Howard Duff. The story has some similarity with Scarlet Angel but would have much improved with a better direction and script. Nice and entertaining film anyway.