Load of rubbish!!

Don't Believe the Hype

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Right from the start, we can tell that this DVD from TCM.com is a good quality production... it has menu options and appears to have been restored professionally. Madge Evans and John Boles star in this south sea thriller about people being shipwrecked on an island. According to Evans, director James Whale was NOT happy about having to make this film, and it was near the end of his career. Universal packed a lot of story into this 65 minute shortie, so things move right along. Similar plot to Gilligan's Island... bigshots, rich folks, and assorted characters (a tarot card reader! ) crash-land on an inhabited south sea island, and try to make a deal with the resident "Malone" (Bruce Cabot) to get back to civilization. Gene Lockhart is in here as "the Senator"... who huffs and puffs his nasty outbursts every couple minutes. Malone is clearly on the run from "something", but no-one knows what. He always seems to have clean, ironed shirts, in spite of his being on a south sea island for years! Fistfights, gun fights, people are shot, people try to steal a boat...This one kind of loses steam about halfway through. After they meet Malone, it kinds of falls apart. Will anyone get off the island? A big chunk of the script is just silly and doesn't really progress in the last third of the film. The last few minutes kind of ties up a lot of loose ends, but it could have been so much better. I blame it on a weak script. It's okay. One of those fun, exotic south sea adventures, but it got silly right around the middle. Original story by Harold Buckley, who had several films made from his books in the 1930s. We were right in the heart of the film production code, so much of this story is predictable...

And as far as I can tell, this title would better have served for one of those sexploitation flicks of the era, like "Escort Girl", "Sex Madness" or "Slaves in Bondage". Except for the two munitions salesmen who tried to take out old Ping (Willie Fung), there wasn't a whole lot of sinning going on, even between the gangster (Bruce Cabot) and his moll Iris Compton (Marion Martin). It's actually pretty bland once the story gets going, as survivors of a plane crash in the Pacific try to figure out how they'll all get back home. Not exactly "Lord of the Flies", even though Gene Lockhart takes on the obligatory self important blowhard role as a state senator who tries to put himself in charge but is unceremoniously rebuffed. I don't know anything about the lead actor James Boles, but it looks like he was 'B' films' answer to Clark Gable; I can see how Madge Evans' character fell for him.Notwithstanding the inevitable comparisons to "Gilligan's Island", this one is a generally breezy little number that's entertaining enough in it's roughly one hour run time. I was somewhat intrigued by the idea of burning one's money in a place where it literally had no value, and that concept alone gives the picture a bonus point for originality. Otherwise it plays out fairly typically, but with a cast that makes it interesting to watch.

A group of totally different people on a plane to China are stranded on a desert Island during a storm, where they meet the Island's only two inhabitants, handsome Jim Boles ("Stella Dallas") and the as-always comical Willie Fung. They include slimy politician Gene Lockhart, tough-as-nails Marion Martin, tarot card reader Nana Bryant, rich business woman Charlotte Wynters, and nurse Madge Evans, as well as several business men of a rather shady nature. Boles doesn't want them there, and forces them to make their own way. Several of the men finally make their way off the Island on Boles' boat with the reluctant (but formidable) Mr. Fung, who may seem like he may not have what it takes to stand up to them, but ultimately he does. Boles, in the meantime, falls for nurse Madge, while tough-as-nails Ms. Martin lets her guard down with an ex-con who isn't all that bad, either. It turns out that Boles has a reason for being away from society, which ties in with another one of the castaways.James Whale was one of the best directors at Universal in the 30's. He had an eye for detail and could always be counted on to add a lavishness to his films not usually found at Universal during its day as one of the lower "A" studios. By 1936, Universal was prospering thanks to the Deanna Durbin musicals, although the horror genre of the early 30's was beginning to fade thanks to the legion of decency and the production code. While there may be some cheap special effects in this film, there are some riveting action sequences, particularly the plane crash and the ship fight between two men and Mr. Fung at sea. Like "Gilligan's Island", there are constant jokes about "fish for dinner again?". This is a handsome "B" film to look at, if one can get past the story flaws that aren't quite plausible.As far as the cast is concerned, Boles is a bland hero, and Evans does best as she can with her not well defined character. She has a great scene at the beginning telling her husband (Alan Edwards) at the airport that she is leaving him, but after that, her spunk all but disappears. Ironically, Ms. Wynters resembles Tina Louise ("Gilligan Island's" Ginger) to some degree, but doesn't get anything really substantial to do but act snooty and above the rest of the riffraff she is unfortunately stuck with. Gene Lockhart is insufferable, as usual, typecast as he was in many films, as a shady politician and businessman. He would be doing roles like this well into the 40's. I always confuse him with another similar character actor of the era, Grant Mitchell. They were never given the chance to expand their portrayal of these characters by making them more sympathetic or understandable like a Charles Coburn or Edward Arnold would. I'd hate to think that people like Lockhart's character are being elected into public office today, let alone when this movie was made.The one actor who stands out to me is Marion Martin, who is so lovably tough that I bet it would be fun to try and melt the exterior to find the warmth inside hidden by years of disappointments. Actors like Ms. Martin, Barbara Pepper and Iris Adrian (the lower class Joan Blondells and Ann Sheridans of their era) were delightful even with their bit parts in films of the 30's and 40's, and deserved better than what they got. Audiences had to wait until the 50's when Shelley Winters made these type of characters the focus of films like "South Sea Woman" and "Larceny". I didn't care much for the ruthless businessmen (particularly the one carrying a satchel of cash). Having pompous Reynolds representing the seedy side of high society was enough for me. Some people are quite offended today by the typecasting of Willie Fung, but he is probably more well defined and consistent in his actions here, making him more believable than his characters in other films I've seen him in. I wish there was more of the always lovable Nana Bryant, playing a role similar to Elisabeth Risdon's in "Five Came Back" and Beaulah Bondi in "Back From Eternity".In conclusion, at 63 minutes, "Sinners in Paradise" is the perfect 30's double bill fare that audiences clamored for in the late depression years, but would forget about seeing until it popped up on TV years later. It is fun to watch for some campy lines, a few memorable performances, and some attractive Island scenery. I'm glad to find that it is on DVD after seeing it at the Film Forum in New York as part of a James Whale triple bill.

Sinners in Paradise was next up in my DVD set.Featuring an intriguing cast and the inimitable James Whale as director, I thought it might be worth a good look.But no. This Adventure/Morality Play gets off to a good start,but quickly bogs down into a clichéd potboiler which is neither compelling or suspenseful. The Disparate-Characters-Stranded-on-a-Desert-Island fizzles out almost as soon as they hit the island. Comic relief is forced and unfunny and all characters are painted in extremely broad strokes.The best part of the film is the interesting cast which is comprised of B and lesser A actors. Madge Evans is lovely and John Boles is dashing and manly. Gene Lockhart and Bruce Cabot might have deleted this one from their film credits, as it does them no credit.I guess it fills out the boxed set but it wasn't worth the trouble.