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Island in the Sun
On a Caribbean island, a rich landowner's son, Maxwell Fleury, is fighting for political office against black labor leader David Boyeur. As if the contentious election weren't enough, there are plenty of scandals to go around: Boyeur has a secret white lover and Fleury's wife, Sylvia, is also having an affair. And then, of course, there's the small matter of a recently murdered aristocrat.
Release : | 1957 |
Rating : | 6.1 |
Studio : | 20th Century Fox, Darryl F. Zanuck Productions, |
Crew : | Art Direction, Art Direction, |
Cast : | James Mason Joan Fontaine Dorothy Dandridge Joan Collins Michael Rennie |
Genre : | Drama Romance |
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Reviews
I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
Having never read the book I can't comment on it, but it seems that the political implications of Alec Waugh's novel was largely sacrificed for the romance. Island In The Sun is a big old romance novel set in a British crown colony just as the United Kingdom was getting shed of its colonial empire. The island at one time was a part of the French empire to explain the name of Fleury as one of the island's big plantation owners. Their romantic entanglements form the basis of the novel.Basil Sydney and Diana Wynyard are the head of the Fleurys and they have two surviving children James Mason and Joan Collins. Mason is married to Patricia Owens and he suspects her of having an affair with a rather dissolute, but charming doctor Michael Rennie. Collins is kanoodling big time with Stephen Boyd the governor's son and would be peer. The governor's aide John Justin is having a fling with Dorothy Dandridge. But most shocking of all another plantation heiress Joan Fontaine is considering taking up with Harry Belafonte who sings a couple of Jamaican ballads which is always good.That interracial kiss between Belafonte and Fontaine was daring and groundbreaking and no doubt Island In The Sun had zero bookings in the American South. How silly we were back then.A story about the Fleury family reveals that Sydney's grandmother was black though I'm sure she could have passed. That sets in motion some radical reassessment of the family's status. They still have their money, but not entry into some of the best homes. Mason who has decided to stand for the local parliament with his opponent being Belafonte tries to exploit his new found black heritage with disastrous results. It ends in tragedy, but also in a strange twist happiness for one of the Fleurys as it is discovered the parents have their secrets.Harry Belafonte and James Mason stand out in this film. Belafonte has some real screen charisma. As for Mason his is a complex role of a strange man with a brooding inferiority complex that was acting out even before the news of his great grandmother.And of course the West Indies looks nice. I'm sure the original novel had more of the political situation of the time in it. Island In The Sun the movie drained most of that and we get a tropical soap opera instead.
Once you get a gander of the beautiful scenery via Cinematographer Freddie Young and hear the sound of Harry Belafonte's voice, you will be willing to follow the narrative anywhere. This really does come across as a paradise on Earth, which makes it even harder to imagine that beneath the tropical lushness of the environs and the island social veneer seethes and rumbles the tension of racial and sexual unrest. It is hard to believe that once again in such an idyllic setting members of the white race are living high off the hog at the expense of an indigenous work force struggling to shrug off the yoke of exploitation and oppression. Malcolm Arnold and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra serve up the musical score with a light and rousing air, but it is Harry Belafonte who is manning the boat.Harry Belafonte strides through the story with a youthful power and authority as he gives Joan Fontaine, his romantic interest and walkabout date, a guided tour through his culture and the places of his upbringing. It would have been interesting to see her return the favor as I believe that would have beefed up the narrative. But their relationship has a wholesomeness that comes across as high-minded despite their ethnic differences. Fontaine conveys her role with a mature beauty and dignity. Perhaps Grace Kelly would have brought more youth and heat to the role, but here the age differences between her and Belafonte are next to insignificant and we are really just comparing apples to oranges.Belafonte is in great company here surrounded by a cast at their most glamorous. Dorthy Dandridge is at times a walking, talking, painting and Joan Collins gives Elizabeth Taylor a run for her money in acting talent and sex appeal. James Mason, Michael Rennie, and Stephen Boyd are suave and gentlemanly from their troubled perspectives, and Britisher John Williams has never presented a stiffer upper lip. John Justin comes across somewhat wooden and stiff as Dandridge's love interest, but then it really is hard to take your eyes off Dorothy anyway. Here producer Darryl F. Zanuck serves up a dish of old style Hollywood and the beauty factor is high.While Belafonte plays the role of a black man romancing a white woman and Justin plays the role of a white man timorously involved with a bi-racial black woman, James Mason is fuming with a murderous jealousy over his own wife who is the same color as himself. I think it would have been good for the symmetry of the story to have a black man and woman struggle with the issue of jealousy as a parallel subplot to complete the exploration of relationships, but this isn't represented here.Despite flaws in the narrative and the characterizations, Belafonte really does come across as a man rising up from the people and shouldering their aspirations. When he sings you can easily see why Joan Fontaine holds him in such high regard. Personally, I would have loved to see him singing while working on a banana or fishing boat. Just as it would have been great to see more looks of longing and passionate angst between all the romantic leads. But there is an air of reserve and social decorum pervading the entire film even down to Phyllis Dalton and David Ffolkes' costume design that, even while vitiating the heat and passion of island forbidden love, somehow gives gravitas to director Robert Rossen's tale of Paradise Found and Paradise Lost.
by one of the greats in the cinematography field (Freddie Young, credited as many of his films were as F.A. Young).But isn't it amazing when you are watching a film and suddenly an actor pops up who you just know you've seen before in a similar role???? It took me awhile but just before Mason turns himself in, I figured out that John Williams also played a detective inspector (although in this film a Colonel), in Hitchcock's Dial M For Murder...typecasting? Maybe, but Williams is just so good in a role like this, you can just see how he gets the criminal to confess to the crime by slow insinuation and guilt-tripping. Mason is caught up in the trap just like Ray Milland.Apart from that small side plot, the rest is so trivially done and I'm sorry but Joan Fontaine tries just too hard with all her practised smiles to look as young as Mr. Belafonte, more an aunt or mother. Why did she do this role is beyond me.This could have been greater film if Miss Dandridge's storyline had been more developed. And Stephen Boyd (although pre-Ben Hur) is equally wasted (as he was in some other Fox films (see The Best of Everything,Fantastic Voyage). Was he really considered for Anthony in Cleopatra??? (with Joan???) That might have been fun.
Because this movie was made at a time when there was still a Hays Code and that much of America was segregated, you won't get much passion out of the interracial teamings of either Dorothy Dandridge/John Justin (though there's some close embraces) nor Harry Belafonte/Joan Fontaine (he's too intense, she's too reserved). Also, the romance between Joan Collins and Stephan Boyd isn't much to write about either (though they do share a kiss). Anyway, this is mainly about James Mason's plantation character and his debates with Belafonte's labor leader character, his jealousy of his wife's (Patricia Owens) supposed affair with a counsel diplomat (Michael Rennie), and his and sister Collins' reaction to a family secret revealed from a reporter and confirmed by their parents (Diana Wynyard and Basil Sydney). Along the way, there's an officer (John Williams) cracking a murder case...With what I just mentioned, there should have been some fireworks but-other than some exciting close calls staged by director Robert Rossen-it's mostly dull with droning dialogue provided by Alfred Hayes as adapted from Alec Waugh's novel. Still, there are a couple of good songs written and performed by Belafonte and a nice dance by Dandridge and also a compelling confrontation between Mason and Belafonte at a speech rally. So on that note, Island in the Sun is at the least worth a look. P.S. The DVD has excellent commentary by historian John Stanley.