Isle of Fury

Isle of Fury is a 1936 adventure film, starring Humphrey Bogart and Margaret Lindsay, about a shipwrecked gangster (Bogart) and the detective (Donald Woods) sent to arrest him.

Isle of Fury
Directed byFrank McDonald
Produced byBryan Fox
Screenplay by
Based onThe Narrow Corner
1932 novel
by W. Somerset Maugham
Starring
Music byHoward Jackson
CinematographyFrank B. Good
Edited byWarren Low
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • 10 October 1936 (1936-10-10)
Running time
60 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The film was adapted by Robert Hardy Andrews and William Jacobs from the novel The Narrow Corner by W. Somerset Maugham.[1] Warners had filmed the tale under its original title just three years earlier.

It was directed by the prolific B movie director Frank McDonald and is one of Bogart's first leading roles. It was released on October 10, 1936.

Plot

The film begins by displaying a map of the Pacific Ocean and the adage: "There still remain far from the lanes of travel, myriads of unmarked islands, the refuge of lost men."

On the island of Tankana in the South Pacific, a marriage is taking place between Val Stevens (Humphrey Bogart) and Lucille Gordon (Margaret Lindsay). The ceremony is interrupted by word that a ship is sinking on an offshore reef during a storm. Val hurries through the exchange of vows, and then rushes out to rescue Captain Deever (Paul Graetz) and his passenger, Eric Blake (Donald Woods).

Val, who is in charge of a pearl business, hears that the natives who dive for him refuse to enter the ocean, as two of their men never surfaced. Eric joins Val and Lucille on a pearl-fishing expedition in which Val suits up in a diving outfit in order to show the natives that there is nothing to fear about. After being submerged at the spot where the natives disappeared, he gets attacked by a giant octopus, with his line loosening from the boat. Eric jumps in the water with a knife and kills the octopus, freeing Val from its tentacles. After this, a friendship grows stronger between the men.

Since first meeting Lucille after being rescued, Eric has been smitten by her beauty. Feelings of love begin to appear among them. In his speeches, Hardy (E. E. Clive) slyly seems to prod Eric to follow his feelings towards Lucille. The Doctor instructs the Captain to spy on the incipient romance. Eric rescues Val a second time when two natives attempt to steal the pearls during a hold-up in his office. Val then urges Eric to stay on the island and become his partner, but Eric, who has asked Lucille to accompany him, refuses, telling Val that he must sail on to his destination. During one of their talks while drinking highballs, the Doctor tells Eric that he knows that he is a detective who was sent to the island to capture Val who is wanted in the United States for a murder. But, Eric says that he has changed his mind, as he now feels that Val is innocent. The Captain, though, believes that Eric is the wanted fugitive and tells Val that he is going to turn him in for the reward. Val angrily dismisses the accusation, but the Captain tells Val that his wife and Eric are currently making love. Val rushes home, while the Captain steals his gun.

Val abruptly confronts the two who are talking, but the Doctor enters and soothes Val's anger, and Eric confesses that he came to the island to capture Val. The Captain, while spying on the group from an open window and realizing that he has been hunting the wrong man, bursts into the room and holds Val by gunpoint. Lucille's grandfather emerges from a room and shoots the Captain dead. Lucille expresses her interest in staying with Val, and Eric leaves the island to report that the wanted fugitive is dead.

Cast

References
  1. Nixon, Rob, "Isle of Fury" (article)TCM.com. Accessed: April 2, 2016
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