This film was re-titled "Monsoon" for re-release, which may be why it is incorrectly identified on the TreeLine Films DVD collection "Hollywood Legends" (2004). On their shoddy 50 Movie set's DISK 3 / SIDE A, TreeLine gives the synopsis for the likewise titled "Monsoon" (1952) starring George Nader, but what you get is "Isle of Forgotten Sins" (1943) starring John Carradine. In the end, it's six of one, and half a dozen of the other.Herein, Mr. Carradine (as Mike Clancy) and seafaring pal Frank Fenton (as Jack Burke) brawl over madam Gale Sondergaard (as Marge Willison) while Captain Sidney Toler (as Carruthers) shows off the same facial expressions he uses under the "Charles Chan" make-up. And, he looks rather flabby in his bathing trunks. If you're looking for something impressive by director Edgar G. Ulmer, don't start with the "Isle of Forgotten Sins".** Isle of Forgotten Sins (8/15/43) Edgar G. Ulmer ~ John Carradine, Frank Fenton, Gale Sondergaard, Sidney Toler

If you've ever wanted to see what the classic brawl at the end of THE SPOILERS would look like if one of the guys weighed 110 pounds, this is your chance. John Carradine, just a couple of years after being robbed of the Oscar for his role as preacher Casy in THE GRAPES OF WRATH, here plays the romantic tough-guy lead in a South Seas adventure film which calls on him to have several fistfights with his partner, the comparatively hulking Frank Fenton, and to win them! Dressed in stereotypical tight sailing man outfits, Carradine looks like the skeleton of Gene Kelly in ANCHORS AWEIGH. It's downright bizarre seeing him play Quirt and Flagg with stolid Fenton. And it's only a little less bizarre seeing Gale Sondergaard as his madam lover. I've always liked Sidney Toler, but after seeing this, I realize he was much, much better suited to play Charlie Chan than anything else. His delivery is flat and his sneering smile pasted on. And the less said about Toler in a bathing suit, the better. All in all, it's an amazingly cheap-looking little tropical blunder, interesting for the sets and props which look like Toys R Us rejects and for the chance to see Carradine do something different, even if it's way outside his range.

This is a horrid little film from P.R.C. Studios and I have to assume the P.R.C. stands for "Producing Real Crap". By no sane person's standards should anyone have given this turkey a 10, though somehow this has happened. P.R.C. is one of the lowest-budget film studios of its day and its best movies were below the quality of rival Monogram Studios (and that's saying a lot!). There films are known for having rotten sets, poor scripts and second-rate acting--they were for many in the movie industry the "purgatory" of Hollywood!! As usual, this film shows all the usual earmarks of a P.R.C. production, though its stars are a tad better than usual--as Sidney Toler and John Carradine (both veterans of the low-budget Bs) were on hand to give this movie a little bit of clout--but only just a bit. That's because Toler had just finished the Charlie Chan series at Fox Studios and hadn't yet signed with Monogram to finish the series--so he was free and in need of cash. Carradine, never really an established actor but a familiar face in low-budget films added a bit of color.Sadly, despite the low budget, the story wasn't very good either. The film is set on a tropic isle, though the natives look like extras from California and have, for the most part, American accents and hairdos. However, they are supposed to be seductive dancing girls working at a dive frequented by sailors. Two of them (Toler and his partner) are responsible for "losing" some treasure on a recent cruise. The truth is that they deliberately wrecked their boat so they could later claim the treasure. Oddly, they arrive just after there is a HUGE bar fight. So, what would you expect at this time? Yep, one of them plays Beethoven on the piano in this dive(!).Two other guys (Carradine and his sometimes friend) spend most of the time imitating Popeye and Bluto, as they fight and fight for no reason in particular. Later, though, Carradine gets the idea of trying to steal Toler's treasure. My favorite part of this (because it was so bad) was the world's longest close-range gun battle. Shot after shot after shot are fired at pointblank range--talk about lousy shooting!! In the end, it's one twist after another but thankfully the action is all ended when a monsoon hits and wipes out this god-awful island.The bottom line is that the print looks lousy, the plot stinks, the acting is generally grade-Z and the special effects are really, really bad. What's to recommend this film? Nothing. So why did it earn a 10?!

ISLE OF FORGOTTEN SINS (1943) aka MONSOON is another of those South Sea Adventures so beloved by Hollywood in the 'GOLDEN AGE' of the studio system. The best of those films was THE HURRICANE (1937) which we rated IMDb Ten**********Stars. Thats why this film gets Two**Stars for it is only twenty (20%) percent as good. The film though resembles more TYPHOON (1940) IMDb Six******Stars. That PARAMOUNT production was nominated for a Academy Award for Special Visual Effects. No chance of that with this film. The only thing PRC has in common with PARAMOUNT is they both start with a 'P'! Like TYPHOON this ends with a big special effects scene done with all the skill PRC could muster. Which means there is nothing 'special' about it at all. I have seen children do better in their bathtub.The participants of this film were either needing a fast buck or had fallen on hard times starting with Director Edgar G. Ulmer. Yes, the same Director who created the classic THE BLACK CAT (1934). None of that originality is presented here. Sidney Toler must have wanted to stretch himself from his CHARLIE CHAN roles at MONOGRAM. Hard to tell if this was good move on his part. John Carradine obviously was in it for a fast buck and phoned in his role. As for Gale Sondergaard she must have made somebody very angry at the major studios. At that time she had already won the Acadamy Award for Best Supporting Actress and would be nominated again. Though it was interesting to see her in a sarong and show off her attractive and feminine figure. That is the sole reason to see this film.