Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever

Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Cooktopi The acting in this movie is really good.

morrison-dylan-fan Getting set to write my 800th IMDb review,I decided to search around on Amazon UK for titles by directing auteur James Whale.Getting near the end of the listings for his famous Horror movies,I was surprised to stumble upon a near-forgotten Adventure Drama that Whale's had made,which led to me getting ready to pay a visit to paradise.The plot:Desperate to each get away from their troubled lives,a group of people get on board a luxury sea plane to China.On the way to China,the plane gets caught in the middle of a tropic storm,which causes it to crash in the ocean.Barely surviving the crash,the handful of survivors spot an island near the wreck,and decide to swim to the shore.Reaching the island,the survivors start to fear that they will not be found,due to the island appearing to be completely deserted.Searching round the island,the survivors are shocked to discover 2 inhibitions:one called Jim Taylor and the other one being his loyal servant Ping.Placing their hopes on him helping them to get off the island,Taylor reveals that he has other plans,as he uncovers each of the survivors hidden pasts.View on the film:Filmed when the change in studio head had led to him losing his main supporters,directing auteur James Whale is only about to show the edge of his past, eye-catching, stylised canvas.Whale & cinematographer George Robinson (who had worked with Whale on the interesting The Road Back) cleverly use a minimal amount of flames to create a scorching hot atmosphere on the island.Despite working on a low budget,Whale's is impressively still able to continue on some of the main themes featured in his work,thanks to the survivors trying to keep their shady upper-class backgrounds hidden,by each giving themselves a "humble" appearance on the island,which the lower-class Taylor is able to reveal as a facade.Taking a scatter-shot approach in their focus of the island residences ,the screenplay by Harold Buckley/Louis Stevens/ Lester Cole & Robert Lee Johnson is disappointingly unable to give each of the characters "their moment" to shine,which whilst allowing Jim Taylor to stand out as a boo-hiss baddie,leads to most of the survivors not being given any distinctive features.Along with a fun cameo from Dwight Frye, John Boles gives a marvellous performance in his reunion with Whale,as Boles curls Taylor's lips on every order that he barks to his fellow islanders,as the crash survivors discover that this is an island far from paradise.

GManfred 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.

Michael_Elliott Sinners in Paradise (1938) *** (out of 4) Universal drama directed by James Whale about a plane load of people who crash on an island ran by a loner (John Boles). This one here doesn't have a very good reputation but I found it to be highly entertaining until the last fifteen minutes when things started to drag a bit. Whale's direction is right on the mark mixing some nice drama with some comedy and using the oddball characters to full effect. Boles, from Whale's Frankenstein is very good in the lead and the supporting players are good as well. The plane crash is handled with a master's touch. Madge Evans and Bruce Cabot co-star.

secragt Watchable for the group of familiar 40s character actors, but after a reasonable crash sequence, this movie quickly loses its bearings. It's hard not to see some similarities to GILLIGAN'S ISLAND and LOST, but the awkward mix of on-the-nose comedy and drama never quite works. Lots of story lines, none of which really come together. The sequence at sea in the second half is the last momentarily interesting section, but it's quickly jettisoned like so much flotsam. Ending is particularly sudden and illogical.SPOILERS AHOY If the ship was unable to reach landfall the first time, how come everyone assumes they will easily be rescued on the second attempt? It seems more likely that everyone (including the soon-to-be-married main couple) will die given the arduous passage of the first unsuccessful attempt. Or, perhaps I missed something obvious because my attention drifted away long before the sudden and seemingly tacked-on denouement? Either way, if you choose to partake of this doomed flight, you have no one but yourself to blame.