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Island in the Sun [1957] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
![Island in the Sun [1957] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51SZZGK3PQL._SL160_.jpg)
Our Price: £6.31 (subject to change)
Not what it could have been
Review date: 2008-11-15 Rating: 6 out of 10
On an island in the West Indies, four couples struggle to find happiness, with varying results. Plantation owner Maxwell Fleury (James Mason) fears his wife is unfaithful to him, his sister (Joan Collins) falls for a young British nobleman but carries a dangerous secret, his sister-in-law (Joan Fontaine) falls for a political organizer (Harry Belafonte), and a store clerk (Dorothy Dandridge) has an affair with a British officer.
This movie deals with two inter-racial romances and was quite controversial in 1957. It tried to be daring and ground-breaking, but any semblance of inter-racial affection was censored out, resulting in a shallow, uninvolving soap opera. It moves too quickly from couple to couple in order to serve the large cast, and the result is that none of the plot lines is developed and all are fairly incoherent. Mason overacts but at least is interesting and Dandridge is beautiful, but Fontaine is totally miscast and Belafonte remains an enigma.
This is a noble effort that suffers from a poor script, terrible editing, and the worst fault that can befall a movie - it's boring. On the plus side, the Extras include a very good biography of Dorothy Dandrige.
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Reviews
A place like this can hide many things!,
Review date: 2007-08-16 Rating: 8 out of 10
I had the chance to watch this film last night and even though "Island in the Sun" was produced in 1957 it should be recognized as indisputable breakthrough! There have been plenty of movies like this, but keep in mind that interracial relationships were political detonate at the time - and yet some of the film's observations remain upsetting even today.
In this film the wealthy whites are ridicule here once again, lording their money-driven power over the black Caribbean field workers in this timely but talky issue-film. Belafonte also stars here as a native son on the fictional West Indies island of Santa Marta who wants to wrestle control of the government from the ruling white British regime, here embodied by political candidate James Mason (who harbors a deep, dark secret of his own -- pun completely intended). Joan Fontaine essays a white woman who happens to be in love with Harry; Dorothy Dandridge plays a local girl in love with a white man (John Justin); and Joan Collins portrays Mason's sister, trying to get English lord Stephen Boyd to fall for her.
The location (Barbados/Grenada) of this film was just beautiful, and so is Harry Belafonte's voice, singing Jamaican songs at sunset. His relationship with Joan Fontaine is fantastic--if not especially romantic. The love story sidebars are soapy but not dull and they give the film what passion it has. Personally what I really wanted to see was more of Belafonte. He was at a peak here, and since he didn't get to use his own singing voice in "Carmen Jones", this is a great chance to watch and hear him perform unfettered.
I also recommend is "Stormy Weather" because it is a important piece of history, being one of Hollywood's first pictures to star an entirely African-American cast. Though some racial stereotyping is on-hand here and there.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
James Mason
Joan Collins
Dorothy Dandridge
Joan Fontaine
Michael Rennie
Creators:
James Mason (Primary Contributor)
Joan Fontaine (Primary Contributor)
Freddie Young (Cinematographer)
Reginald Beck (Editor)
Darryl F. Zanuck (Producer)
Alec Waugh (Writer)
Alfred Hayes (Writer)
Director(s):
Recording label: 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
EAN: 0024543221876
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Closed-captioned, Colour, DVD-Video, NTSC,
Release date: 2006-01-10
Universal product code (UPC): 024543221876
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Region code: 1
Running time: 119 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1957
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: Spanish (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)