Hell's Island

All the Classic Stuff is Here for a Sorta Exiting-Wounded Film-Noir, a Genre Forced Out of the Minds of Film-Makers and Audiences...

Pushed to the More Family and Living Room-Friendly by the "Powers that Be".

Starting Around 1950 Forces Seen and Unseen (the Puppet Masters), were Manipulating in Motion, Trying to Coral the American Herd Toward the Oncoming "Eisenhower-Era" that Shunned the "Dark Stuff" of Pop-Culture...

Targeting Film-Noir, Rock 'n Roll, and Comic Books, to Name 3 Big-Ones, and By Hook and by Crook They Managed to (for the Good of us all) Changed...

Film-Noir into "Police-Procedural"......Rock 'n Roll from its Black and Hillbilly Roots into "White-Bread-Teen Idols", with about as much "Soul" as an Infantry-Soldiers Boots, and Finally......the Dark, Violent, Ghastly and the Wonderfully "Arty" Very Popular Comics, Like the Infamous "E. C.'s...into Saintly, Sappy, and Not-as-Much-Fun..."Code-Comics" that were Without an Edge, Insufferable.

This Phil Karlson Directed 1955 "Film-Noir", Starring John Payne and Mary Murphy , could be Looked-Upon as a Homage, an Old-Timey Look- Back to the Pure-Noir Days Before the "Death-Warrant" became Official and was Now Taking its "Last Bow".

Karlson is Considered One of the Best-B-Movie Directors and His Filmography is Stunningly Impressive and Here He Knows what He is Doing.

This is the Twilight Time of Film-Noir, the Ingredients are Here but the Packaging is "New", Ordered by those more "$$$$" Focused, with "Art" a Secondary, if any, Concern.

Shot in Vista-Vision, Nothing Says Tightly-Bound and Claustrophobic Like a Wide-Screen......Photographed in Technicolor, Nothing Says Encompassing, Threatening, and Inescapable Shadows Like All the Colors of the Rainbow.

Karlson, and Crew, to Their Credit, Recognized the Power of What Film-Noir Delivered and its, at the Time Waning Want from the "Big Brother" Types, and "Hell's Island" UN-Apologetically Delivers what Fans of Film-Noir Love and Respect from Their "Bastard-Child", Organic Rebel-Genre.

But, 5 Years or so After the Push to Purge Pure Film-Noir from Existence this was What Resulted and it is a Good Representation of the Walking-Dead Films-Noir of its Day.

Fans would have to Pay Their Respects and Wait for it's Resurrection in what became Known as "Neo-Noir" and Start the Cycle Reborn and "Rebooted".

Note...It's been reported from numerous sources that a "Good" Print of the Movie is hard to find...it's certainly worth a restoration and a "New-Look". Because it is a sign-post for the State-of-the-Art for Film-Noir in 1955. Historically it is worth a watch and deserves, considering all that was said above, makes it a prime-cut that should not be over-looked.

A guy gets hired to find someone's ruby and some stuff happens. Sorry to be so vague, but it's a nondescript kind of movie. Very familiar scenario with the usual shadowy characters, convoluted backstory, femme fatale, double-crosses, witnesses suddenly getting killed, and so forth. It's executed well enough but has little spark. Earlier Phil Karlson directed John Payne in 99 RIVER STREET and KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL, both much more exciting and memorable films. Not that Payne is bad here, nor is the direction, it's just a meh movie. It is a joy to see Francis L. Sullivan... although he doesn't much screen time, he does have a hell of an exit scene. As for the visual style, it's a VistaVision Technicolor production... unfortunately my copy was fullscreen, faded and damaged, so I can't really comment. Worthwhile if you really need a noir fix, but pretty bland.

Looks like Paramount decided to make a version of The Maltese Falcon (1941), in Vista Vision, no less. Frankly, I would have preferred good old b&w for the noir material, but then who's going to leave their new-fangled 1955 TV for more b&w. The plot may be familiar— a ruthless spider woman tricks a fall guy for insurance money– but it's still slickly done. Then too, Payne grimaces appropriately as schemes unfold around him, while Murphy looks the part of a deadly bon-bon. Still, she lacks that inner spider dimension that Mary Astor revealed so tellingly in the original. And what about ex-wrestler Sandor Szabo as what else but a gruesome thug.

I had trouble following all the twists and turns of who did what to whom, but I guess it all got explained in the wrap. Too bad production didn't work in more raw evil since director Karlson can really make you feel it. No this is no Phenix City Story (1955) or Kansas City Confidential (1952), the culmination of Karlson's career, at least in my little book. But the results are still engaging, thanks to Payne, a sensually recumbent Murphy, and a fat guy not named Sydney Greenstreet.

This is a surprisingly good movie for being a B feature with no stars and no special names of attraction to it. Above all, it's a well composed and intriguing story. It's a tropical noir in flamboyant colour and with Francis L. Sullivan as the most interesting character, here in a wheel-chair, leading the hunt for a missing invaluable ruby lost in an air crash on this unidentifiable Caribbean island full of mysteries.

The leading lady, a former mistress of John Payne's, is the spider in the web of the mysteries with a husband locked up for life and imprisoned on another island outside as responsible for the death of the one casualy of the air crash, who had the ruby. Well, let's not proceed any further here, since the story as such with all its intrigues and tunnels, twists and turns cannot be told better than by the film.

The very adequate music adds to the magic of the tropical island and the dame of mysteries and intrigue, and there will be some more casualties before the skies eventually will clear and show what really happened, Francis L. Sullivan making the most striking exit in his wheel-chair.

Perhaps it aided in my final enjoyment of Hell's Island in that I had very low expectations going into it. Payne, Murphy, and Sullivan are all very good in their respective roles and delivered from start to finish. Not all, but several of the minor/supporting performances/characters also provided ongoing interest as well. While many reviewers described the story as familiar, for me it didn't come across that way. Perhaps it was a combination of the setting and direction, along with a few moments of solid dialogue, but I found Hell's Island quite enjoyable from beginning to end. Great, no, but enjoyable yes. Check it out and see for yourself.