Isle of Forgotten Sins

Isle of Forgotten Sins is one of those rarities I discovered at my local library. In this case, this was one of Edgar G. Ulmer's low-budget poverty row pictures he made for PRC. John Carradine and Frank Fenton are rivals for gambling club owner Gale Sondergaard but they put aside their differences for a chance to get sunken treasure. Ms. Sondergarrd and her girls (which includes a crafty Veda Ann Borg) come along but all of them seem to be pawns for Sidney "Charlie Chan" Toler and his partner Rick Vallin. Also briefly appearing is Bill Edmonds-Mr. Martini in It's a Wonderful Life-as the island chief. Enjoyably and breezily fast-paced (whenever possible) B-movie that benefits from Ulmer's expert direction and a suitable underscore by Leo Erdody (who like me was born in Chicago, Ill.) mixed in with some public domain classical music. The composer is billed by his last name here. If there's some quibble, it's how some scenes obviously reveal how some boat scenes use a toy model and the underwater ones reveal the diving suit, which is also a small plaything, being manipulated. Otherwise, great fun with even some singing from one of the girls not marring the storyline too much.

Intriguing South Seas "epic" about a couple of roughs and their casino girlfriends that decide to steal gold they believe a customer to have on his private island. Trouble is that the customer tricks the two men et al so they will find treasure underwater only to be lifted after completion of said job. This little, low-budget film was directed by that once shining star Edger G. Ulmer - the director of 1934's The Black Cat. Like all of Ulmer's work, flashes of brilliance resonate throughout. Ulmer makes the most with a small budget. That being said, innovative use of struggling finance and truly imaginative uses of actors and camera angles do not necessarily make for a great film. Here they struggle to do just that - but come up somewhat short. Nonetheless, because of the talent here, Ulmer, John Carradine, Gale Sondergard, and Sidney Toler, and a quick, zippy pace, and some campy dialog, etc..- Isle of Forgotten Sins is better than one could or should expect. The leads of Carradine and love-interest Sondergard go against type, and while Carradine is always a thick slice of ham - he is always fun to watch. Toler, Charlie Chan himself, has a great time playing a heavy in the film. The girls that accompany the men are all knockouts. The story is where weakness - rising damp if you like - sets in. While the two chummy roughs fight between themselves over Sondergard and whatever else they can, neither is heroic in any real sense of the word. They are bad guys. Toler is a bad guy. So pulling for one over the other was difficult, especially since Toler seemed far more pleasant company. The other thing is that the low-budget really shows its depths when the "boys" dive trying to find the gold. The diver in the water is obviously a toy, gesticulating with its hand in the same motion over and over again. The scenes just look ridiculous. The boat and some of the exterior shots of the hotel, etc... look like miniatures too. The climatic ending also is rather excessive, but interesting.

Had I known who the romantic leads are in this film I would have made it a point to see it years ago. How often do you get the opportunity to see Gale Sondergaard and John Carradine play characters better suited to Humprhey Bogart and Lauren Bacall? ISLE OF FORGOTTEN SINS is a thoroughly enjoyable South Seas adventure with Carradine and Sondergaard, cast completely against type, doing terrific work for low budget miracle worker Edgar G. Ulmer. Add Frank Fenton as Carradine's battling buddy, Sidney Toler as their jovial adversary, Rik Vallin as Toler's classical piano-playing second mate and Veda Ann Borg as a treacherous native girl, clever use of a puppet (!) for the deep sea diving scenes and a climactic monsoon -- what more do you need?

NOTE: The running time of this film is usually listed as 82 minutes. The video print I watched (from VCI Video) ran 76 minutes, and did not appear to be missing anything major.

From it's wonderful opening with the credits on the sand to the Monsoon ending (and the use of Wagner's music for the underwater sequence; the opening of the Rheingold which actually takes place under water) this a great way to spend a little over an hour with two of Hollywoods most entertaining actors; Sondergaard and Carradine are both cast against type and are wonderful. As are Toler, Borg and Birell. A lot of fun!!!!I have the Alpha release which is worn but fine.

Gale Sondergaard is the mistress of -- well, let's say it's a gambling house. It's a gambling house filled with girls. Sondergaard looks great and is fun in the role. Some of her employees are pretty and also act well. Veda Ann Borg, for one, is always good for some fun. Some of the girls are pretty. A few of the bit players, as was the case in the lesser studios, look like basset hounds with long hair.

John Carradine is kind of wasted in the role of the hero. He's fine but this was not his forte. Sidney Toler, so upstanding as Charlie Chan, is not nice here at all.

Edgar G. Ulmer does a fine job with this low-budget affair. I had never heard of it, and I thought I'd seen all his movies.

It's most fun when it stays within the genre, ruled over by Marlene Dietrich, of the good woman with a bad reputation working in a place with a terrible reputation. When it turns to adventure, it gets a little tiresome. But it's not a bad movie.

And Ulmer may have been the director who best, and most frequently, used classical and operatic music in his movies. Sure, some did when they were doing biopics of composers. But even here, we have an excellent score.