Island in the Sun

source: Island in the Sun

I actually liked this movie. It doesn't seem to get as much credit as it should, seeing that it is the first movie to ever star an interracial couple (between the beautiful Dorothy Dandridge and the cute John Justin. Also, would've been between much older, but good actress Joan Fontaine and handsome Harry Belafonte). The scenery is beautiful and the plot is very good, but I think it's the storyline and script that make it so bad. It really doesn't count for a romance seeing that Ms. Dandridge and Mr. Justin were hardly aloud to touch each other and another character got pregnant out of wedlock, who was white. But this if you want a great movie with a beautiful tropical set (filmed on location in the Caribbean), interracial romance, suspense, mystery, a little singing, race relations, and politics, I suggest this movie.

"Island in the Sun" was filmed in Barbados and Grenada, though it's about a fictional British colonial island...roughly like Barbados or Grenada! In many ways, it's a film about the racism inherent in colonialism and in other ways is a soap opera set on a tropical island. It also features something shocking for its time...and interracial romance between Joan Fontaine and Harry Belafonte...something which, sadly, caused a bit of a commotion when it debuted. The movie is odd in that it seems to have many, many plots...too many for my taste. Much of it involves the Fleury family-- especially the incredibly strange character played by James Mason. But in addition to the Fleurys, there are many others--and the common thread to all of this is soapy romance. Many of the romances are interracial and the stories thrust seems to be that with the ending of colonialism comes the elimination of racial boundaries in love. As I mentioned, I actually think the film has too many plots. I also thought Mason's character was enough for one film....so either the film should have been all about him OR they should have eliminated him completely. Regardless, it's a confusing sort of film--with many excellent moments but not nearly enough focus. Decent but the film could have been so, so much better...especially since so many things that are brought up in this film are important and deserve a better presentation.

I love to hear Harry sing, so I was disappointed that he was only given the opportunity to sing once in this film. The acting in general was predictable and somewhat dull, but I stuck it out to the end anyway. The relationship between the murderer and the policeman was somewhat amusing.

Zanuck chose a spicy story of inter-racial love on a West Indian island. The head ( James Mason) of a ruling family murders a gentlemanly English drifter ( Michael Rennie) who, he believes, is having an affair with his wife ( Patricia Owens). He is thereafter doggedly pursued by a police inspector ( John Williams ) until the suspect gives in. In the meantime, his sister-in-law almost has an affair with a handsome leader ( Harry Belafonte ) of a black community, who finally decides it wouldn't be good for his political future , while the governor's aide-camp ( John Justin ) resigns his commission and marries the black girl ( Dorothy Dandridge ) he loves.

I really like this movie, and how it describes and set the tone of the times back then. Apparently James Michner also liked the author, Alec Waugh, enough as well as he dedicated his book titled 'Caribbean' to Alec Waugh. So you know that great researcher Michner knows a quality writer when he sees one! When you think about this being made in 1957, it is an even more remarkable tale to have it even see the light of (via movie mode) day. Remember, ideas and inter-racial attractions / interactions were not very openly discussed or even addressed in public back then. The great acting parts seems to blend into the story line very well. Perhaps this would make a great movie to re-make ... say with Halley Berry, Densel Washington.

Alec Waugh's novel dealt with murder, incest, racism and other assorted social problems including politics--and one would think that the film made from his best-selling novel would have to be something really important and vastly entertaining. Sorry--not so. The script is a major dud requiring a viewer to sit through two hours of boredom relieved only by a chance to gape at some nice scenery. The actors have all done better work elsewhere--and that includes JAMES MASON, HARRY BELAFONTE, JOAN FONTAINE, JOAN COLLINS, STEPHEN BOYD, PATRICIA OWEN and DOROTHY DANDRIDGE. At the time of release it may have stirred up some controversy because of the racial theme but none of the love interest is graphic enough to quicken anyone's pulse, then or now. The Fontaine/Belafonte match suffers from poor writing and she looks vaguely uncomfortable in her role most of the time. It all comes off as cheap soap opera material, cleansed of any serious look or discussion of racial problems among the upper and middle class set depicted in the film. But what matters most of all is that the film is a boring mess, long and very undistinguished despite its stellar cast.

Island in the Sun is credited by others as the first movie to star an interracial couple. It was made in 1957 the same year as Sayonara in which Marlon Brando, Red Buttons, and James Garner are all involved in interracial romances with Japanese women. Also there is a Barbara Stanwyck film from I believe the 1930's where she is involved with a Chinese man so this is not the first interracial romance. Generally I would agree with what others have said about this movie. A beautiful looking dud, filled with beautiful people. Unlike others however I would blame the director and editor, rather than the script for the problem. In countless number of occasions the film dissolves to a slow fade just as the action is reaching it's dramatic peak. As in James Mason's attempted suicide, his wife comes into the room sees the gun and ..... dissolve to next scene. Terrible. The cat and mouse , Crime and Punishment murder subplot gives the film some vigor but then peters out in a very predictable way. A great cast , and great scenery photographed by Freddie Young ( Lawrence of Arabia) all of it wasted.

This came out when I was 9 and my cousin and I saw it at a theater 7 times! It was the first time I gave any attention to an adult movie! I have seen it a few times over the last many years and It still is provocative to me. When I was 9 I did not fully understand the interracial thing, and I was brought up to ignore color. What I remember was imagining what happened when the film faded out at the height of intense moments. What me imagine happening is far worse than anything they could ever show on film. that fact that it was shot in a beautiful location was not lost on my 9 year old mind and for years dreamed of living in a beautiful island paradise. The music ie: title song I learned every word! Unlike others who saw this 30 years later and through adult eyes with agendas of their own, I lived the editing, the acting and the photography. I sometimes think people expect to much out of a movie. It is after all, just entertainment! Watch this movie, without preconceived notions of script, editing, story etc, enjoy it!

At the center is Santa Marta, an imaginary small island in the British West Indies… Leading the story is David Boyeur (HarryBelafonte), a homegrown revolutionary, whose skin is his country… But the issue here is not just one of color… The issue here is who is really best fit to represent the people in the colorful island? Who knows them the best? Who feels for them the most? Who's really a part of them? On the other hand, one of the other important fights, for Boyeur, is against tradition as Santa Marta shackles with traditions Sizzling around the edges is Mavis Norman (Joan Fontaine) who happens to be in love with this charismatic leader… Mavis Norman feels that he is superior to most men As a public figure, there is Maxwell Fleury (James Mason) who seeks the election to revenge himself upon the whites whom he now thinks despise him… Fleury is ready to use the black people so that he can still rule in that world that he still belongs to Delving into his personal life, we see him jealous of Hilary Carson (Michael Rennie), the gentlemanly English drifter… Fleury envies him because he thinks that his wife (Patricia Owens) is attracted to him… Blind by love, he thinks that his wife had fall in love with Carson who is better suited to her There is also Euan Templeton (Stephen Boyd), the governor's son, who wants to be married before he goes back to England… His fiancé, Jocelyn Fleury (Joan Collins), is the most difficult person to get a wedding ring on for some powerful reason… Caught in a tangle of rumors, she comes out to her mother (Diana Wynyard) who placates her by revealing a secret of her own... There's also the governor's aide Denis Archer (John Justin) who thinks that there's always a point at the beginning of a love affair where a man can draw back, where he's still safe… His love interest Margot Seaton (Dorothy Dandridge) delivers some of the film's best moments And let us not forget the police inspector John Williams—in a really outstanding performance—who easily identifies an unpremeditated murder… Colonel Whittingham considers the murderer not strong enough to bear the burden of his guilt… But to tell you more would be to reveal too much too soon Robert Rossen manages a few winningly odd performances from Dorothy Dandridge, Harry Belafonte, and John Williams whose presence give the film some strong dramatic qualities