I have to admit that I was looking forward to watching "Island of Lost Women". The 1950s and 1960 were full of movies about lost women missing male companionship (like "Queen of Outer Space"), and a lot of them were frequently and unintentionally hilarious. I thought I would be in store for more of the same. Also, the fact that a major Hollywood studio picked up this independently made feature interested me. But after watching the movie, I wonder why the studio in question thought this was worthy. The low budget is pretty evident throughout, for one thing. As for if the movie is unintentionally funny, for the most part it isn't. There are some chuckles here and there, but the characters are somewhat smarter and less dopey than usual, so they don't do many things that would be considered unintentionally funny. And the story unfolds not only at a pretty uneventful pace for the most part, what happens in the climax is telegraphed early on, so there is no surprise when it happens. A pretty disappointing quickie.

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.

ISLAND OF LOST WOMEN – 1959This low budget film seems to have been a make work project for several of Alan Ladd's friends. Produced by Ladd's "Jaguar Productions", it employs veteran director Frank Tuttle and cinematographer John F.Seitz. Tuttle directed Ladd in his breakout role, THIS GUN FOR HIRE and worked with Ladd on several other films. Director of photography Seitz was the cinematographer on an even two dozen Ladd films. Anyways, to get back to the film, a couple of men, pilot, John Smith and reporter, Jeff Richards, are lost. They were flying to Australia in a small two engine aircraft. They ran into a storm and were thrown off course. Now they are having trouble with the aircraft and are running low on fuel.They see an island and head for it. Suddenly a voice booms out of their radio, "Turn back, do not land!" Smith and Richards though have no choice and land the aircraft on the beach. While taking a quick look around, the pair are approached by a man. The fellow, Alan Napier tells them to take off as it is a private island. After a few words are exchanged, Richards and Smith promise to leave as soon as they repair the aircraft. Now out of the jungle pop three babes in short shirts. The girls, Venetia Stevenson, June Blair and Diane Jergens are the daughters of Napier.The boys, Smith and Richards are invited back to Napier's underground home for dinner. Reporter Richards soon gets the story of who these people are. Napier was an atomic science specialist who had worked on the Manhattan Project. After seeing the power of the bomb, he had grabbed his wife and three small daughters and vanished. He had then set up a lab and a home for them on this uncharted island. The wife has since died and the daughters are now grown up. Needless to say they have never seen a man other than their father, Napier. Napier now decides it would be better if the two men stayed, so he destroys their aircraft. He does not want word of his location known.Needless to say, the girls fall for the two lugs. They now plan on building a raft and leaving the island. Of course the girls also want to see the outside world. The very world Napier wants to shield them from.Napier has managed to build himself an atomic reactor on the Island. Of course there is now an accident which causes an overload. Everyone scurries down to the beach and hides behind a few rocks. BOOM! (Thank goodness for those rocks shielding them from the radioactive dust) The government notices the blast and send aircraft to investigate. Everyone is rescued and returned to civilization. This film is nowhere near as bad as I make it sound. It does have that certain charm that some of these low budget quickies have. The look of the film is quite good, which it should be with Tuttle and Seitz handling the camera-work. All in all, it will kill a rainy day when you have an hour and bit to kill. Miss Stevenson was the daughter of actress Anna Lee and director Robert Stevenson. Noir fans know Stevenson as the director of, TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH, THE WOMAN ON PIER 13, WALK SOFTLY STRANGER and LAS VEGAS STORY.

Let's see, now, this movie provides us with two hunky men who crash land their plane on an uncharted island in the South Pacific inhabited by three beautiful young women. Do you think, just maybe, someone could come up with a plot making effective use of these ingredients? ("Forbidden Planet" did!)Amazingly enough, the temptingly-titled "Island of Lost Women" fails to do so. The characters simply stand around, looking attractive, while waiting for something in the way of a real plot to arrive. It never quite does, but even though the movie "blows" a seemingly sure-fire set-up, it's easy to watch, has a certain naive charm, and -- despite the erotic possibilities -- is suitable viewing for all ages.Because of its blank, empty quality, viewers can project all sorts of interpretations onto the proceedings. Some may note, for instance, that though they're in the company of three nubile females, neither of the two men makes any sexual advances toward them, aside from a bit of kissing and hand-holding. Indeed, the men spend a lot of time together, reminiscing about their "friendship" and finding ample opportunities to take their shirts off. (Joe even gets a chance to apply lotion to Mark's bare back.) Neither man mentions a "significant other" back home. And while the women wear decidedly modest swimming attire, the men get to slip into swim trunks which are snug enough to bulge in all the right places.The trio of actresses in "Lost Women" came and went without making a ripple but the two actors had careers with a bit of substance. Jeff Richards hovered at the fringes of stardom in the 1950s with a number of films to his credit, including "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," but never became more than just "promising." By the time "The Island of Lost Women" went into release, his career had clearly begun to fade. John Smith, on the other hand, never made much of an impact in the movies but he did achieve a small measure of success in the "Laramie" series on TV. One wonders if they were cast in this movie because they were such opposite physical types. Richards has black hair and a hairy chest, while Smith is blond with a chest as smooth as a baby's bottom.