Island of Lost Men
Director: Kurt
Neumann
Year: 1939
Rating: 6.0
This decent B film (63 mins) is set in an exotic locale as so many of these
types of films were back in the 1930s and 40s. Some stock footage, a few
set ups in the studio and perhaps a little external shooting in a nearby
forest and audiences were transported to faraway Africa, South America or
Asia. This one begins in Singapore and quickly moves into the wild jungles
up river. For a B film it has a sterling cast. At the top of the credits
is Anna May Wong appearing as usual in a film not worthy of her - but she
is in good company with the next four names being known ones (though perhaps
not so much at the time). Anthony Quinn gets to play an agent for the Chinese
govt (Quinn played as many ethnic types as I think Karloff did), Broderick
Crawford as a gangster on the run, Eric Blore once again playing a valet
but in much less than his typical posh surroundings and J. Carroll Naish
being the villain of some uncertain ethnic background. He too often played
a myriad of nationalities (he was of Irish ancestry). This is directed by
Kurt Neumann who was later to go back in the jungle when he directed a number
of Tarzan films.
Prin (Naish) is a mini-Kurtz running his jungle trading post like an Emperor
and God to the natives. No one goes there uninvited and he can do what he
wishes. Under him are a few white men to of course keep the natives in line
- Blore as his valet, Quinn as a clerk and a few others to help him rule.
When he gets bored he visits the nightclubs in Singapore and comes across
a Chinese singer Ling (Anna May Wong) and takes a fancy to her and invites
her to come back with him. She accepts. For her own reasons that have nothing
to do with liking Prin, though I expect he thinks he will get favors in return.
It all comes to a head as the white men turn on each other and natives (
headhunters) get restless. When Crawford shows up demanding money or else,
it turns into a little chess game with everyone trying to one up the other
- even the monkey gets in the act. This is based on a Broadway play that
survived all of 11 performances called Hangman's Whip by Frank Butler. He
also gets a writing credit here and was to go on to write some fine scripts
- often for Bob Hope - a few of the Road movies as well as Wake Island and
Going My Way. The film White Woman in 1933 with Carole Lombard and Charles
Laughton was based on the play as well - though clearly they switched the
white woman for a Chinese woman.
