Island of Lost Women (1959)

"Hell on Frisco Bay" director Frank Tuttle's final film "Island of Lost Women" was co-produced by actor Alan Ladd and written by "Teenage Monster" scenarist Ray Buffum from a story by Prescott Chaplin. Chaplin is best known for writing the W.C. Fields comedy "Never Give a Sucker an Even Break." "Island of Lost Women" appears to be inspired in part by William Shakespeare's "The Tempest." Instead of a shipwreck, the two protagonists wind up on the island when their aircraft develops engine problems. The people that they meet on the island have gone into voluntary exile, but the leader of this group wants nothing to do with outsiders. American radio commentator Mark Bradley (Jeff Richards of "Born Reckless") is being flown to a news conference in Melbourne, Australia, when one propeller of their twin-engined plane, piloted by Joe Walker (John Smith later of "Laramie"), malfunctions, and Walker makes an emergency landing on an uncharted island in the Pacific. These guys have been working together for five years and what they are about to encounter is the most bizarre experience of their association. Moments before they land, our heroes hear a warning broadcast to them to dissuade them from landing. Left with no alternative but to land, Walker manages adroitly to put the plane down on the beach without it cracking up. A distinguished gentleman in casual apparel, Dr. Paul Lujan (Alan Napier of "Batman"), approaches them and brusquely inquires how quickly they can repair their aircraft.Watching nearby from the foliage are his lovely daughters: Venus (Venetia Stevenson of "Darby's Rangers"), Mercuria (June Blair of "Hell Bound") and sixteen-year-old Urana (Diane Jergens of "Teenage Rebel"), who have never seen any men other than their father. We learn later that Paul's wife died on the island. Walker discovers their host's identity when he is gathering eggs for their supper. He finds his name stenciled on a slat from a packing crate: Dr. Paul Lujan, California Institute. A cynical and disillusioned atomic scientist who is "one of the leading authorities on nuclear fission in the world," Lujan explains to Mark that his wife and he forsook civilization fifteen years ago and sought the haven of an island with their three small children after the attack on Hiroshima. Lujan never believed the Allies would have deployed the bomb. He thought it would be used only as a threat. Bradley takes a walk with Venus and they talk about his work. Urana shows up to bring Venus home and asks her has Bradley kissed her yet. Dr. Lujan furnishes our heroes with pillows and bedding to sleep on the beach. While Walker had tried to extend their stay with additional repairs, Bradley wants him now to speed up things because he senses a scoop in their serendipitous encounter on the island. The following morning, our heroes confront Dr. Lujan with his identity, and he allows them the chance to leave, but Bradley is determined to exploit the opportunity. Now, in a drastic change from his earlier graciousness, Lujan promises them that they shall never leave the island if they don't agree to never mention its location. Again, Bradley refuses to accept Lujan's ultimatum. The scientist brandishes a flame-throwing automatic pistol and destroys their plane.This doesn't keep Bradley and Walker from commencing work on a raft with Venus and Mercuria providing them with tools. Before long, Urana creates trouble of her own when she becomes infatuated with Bradley. Our heroes have built a raft, but Bradley refuses to take Venus with her. Urana eavesdrops on their conversation and informs on them to her father. Eventually, Lujan takes Walker prisoner in his storage shed. Urana finds her father's flame-throwing pistol and they struggled over it. Accidentally, they fire it and a blaze erupts in Lujan's laboratory. Trying to release Walker from confinement, Lujan is thwarted when a shelf above the door collapses and knocks him semi-conscious. Bradley rushes it as the daughters carry their father to safety and rescue his pardner. Earlier, Lujan had shown Mark his process for forging a special isotope from uranium in his small laboratory reactor. The heat from the blaze triggers a reaction. Our heroes, the girls, and Dr. Lujan survive an atomic blast. At fadeout, an air/send rescue plane is flying all six of them back to civilization.Director Frank Tuttle doesn't have much to work with, but he keeps the action moving briskly in this black and white, 71-minute opus. Alan Napier is ideally cast as the mad scientist who believes that civilization is like a snowball that grows bigger as it rolls along toward extinction. Jeff Richards and John Smith are feisty young bulls. One scene shows them in their swim trunks about a dip in the ocean. Later, Bradley saves Venus from a shark. The shark that Richards kills is hilariously limp. Of course, the girls are all gorgeous. Production values seem above-average as this is a Warner Brothers' release. The uncharted island with atomic energy must have been a stretch in those days. "Island of Lost Women" was obviously used to pack theaters. Routine and competent best describes it.

With a title like "Island of Lost Women", this has to be a B movie. But the cheesy melodrama one would expect from such a title is absent.Two men have to make an emergency landing on an unknown island, where they discover a scientist and his three beautiful daughters. The girls have never seen another man before and they are intrigued by any information about the outside world.The two men want to leave the island, because they have lives to recover. The three girls want the men to spend time with them. The scientist only knows he wants his island to remain an unspoiled secret.The dialogue is very straightforward. This allows the viewer to concentrate on the motivations of the characters, without the usual overacting. Most of the conversations center around ideas, not passion. But the film never takes advantage of that. Instead--like there's a clock ticking down the running time--the plot wraps up in an improbable way.The cast is interesting, if not celebrated. In their combined filmographies, these actors weave in and out of the lives and professions of numerous celebrities. If only this script had given them more to work with. The final result is somewhat pleasant, if short and simple.

A scientist with his three shapely daughters leaves behind threats of nuclear war and escapes to a desert island. But then two hunky fliers crash land and unexpected movie boredom begins.In my hormonally vulnerable mind, I never thought a skin show could be boring, but this one is. Three scantily clad girls and two bare-chested guys stand around and talk for 70 inert minutes. That is, if you ignore the nuclear explosion coming at the end, a cloud whose kill range is about that of a firecracker. The only point of interest is how a homoerotic sub-current is worked into the non-existent storyline. Other reviewers are right, it's unmistakable—catch the brief back rub Joe (Smith) gives Mark (Richards), when you'd expect one of the shapely girls on hand would do. But then this is 1959 and tip-offs have to be done subtly, (see reviewer gg1947 for a more complete list).I guess aristocratic Allen Napier (Batman, the TV series) was added to lend some class, but it's got to be the nadir of his lengthy career. Anyway, the youngsters are all good-looking and okay actors. But unfortunately, that's not enough to lift this super-cheapo from the pits of ennui. Thank goodness, I didn't pay to see it.

Two men are forced to crash-land their plane on an uncharted island in the Pacific. They soon discover an atomic scientist and his three pretty daughters live on the island. The three girls have never seen a man besides their father. To say they're excited would be an understatement. When the men threaten to expose the scientist upon returning to civilization, he takes steps to ensure they never leave the island. Weak film that bears a few similarities to Forbidden Planet but, make no mistake, this cheapie isn't in that film's league. Jeff Richards and John Smith are the bland leads. Alan Napier is good as the scientist, easily the meatiest part in the movie. Venetia Stevenson, Diane Jergens, and former Playmate June Blair are the girls. All three are nice to look at but ultimately forgettable. I admit I was rooting for Napier in this one. The 'good guys' were pushy jerks. Richards wants to force the scientist to go back and build more bombs, even if that's not what Napier wants. The only reason Napier decides to prevent their leaving is because Richards threatens him. So I had a fundamental problem with the premise and found the protagonists unlikable. Also nothing much happens that's exciting. There's no real action, like most movies of this type. Usually there are wild animals or monsters to fight off. But not here. It's all pretty dull without even the obligatory camp value these things usually have.