A bit of preposterousness set in the South Seas with beautiful Technicolor scenery. Linda Darnell, incredibly lovely, does what she can with the lackluster script. This was Tab Hunter's first film, he was discovered working on a ranch and had no prior experience acting and it definitely shows but he tries and looks great even saddled with the unfortunate nickname Chicken. He tells some interesting stories about the making of the film in his autobiography and Linda's kindness to him as a raw beginner, the book is worth checking out if you have the chance. The movie is fine for a rainy Saturday morning just don't expect art.

I enjoyed this 1952 movie. It never tried to be anything but what it was. Shipwreck, stranded on an island, beautiful Linda Darnell and handsome young Tab Hunter in his first film. The star never looked better and the story was not difficult to understand. Enter Donald Gray as the other part of the triangle and you have conflict amongst the natives.Linda Darnell, every inch a movie star, graced the screen with her alluring and dark looks. She never gives you the idea of anything else but what she is. True better films came her way, but listen, just watching the glamor of the star system was enough in those days. See her in LETTER TO THREE WIVES or UNFAITHFULLY YOURS, ANNA AND THE KING OF SIAM, even that clinker FOREVER AMBER for more meaty roles. But sometimes it's refreshing to see that stars as themselves in romantic and sometimes far fetched plots. Remember in the 40s and 50s the studios ruled the films and the stars. It was their mission to expose their glamor and popularity. How many films did it take for Elizabeth Taylor to turn into a decent actress?Tab Hunter took a lot of slack for this film from the critics. But the studios had other thoughts in mind and thankfully they took him under their wings and turned him into a top teen aged heart throb. He too learned his craft along the way. Watch him in GUNMAN'S WALK, BATTLE CRY, THE AROUSERS and LUST IN THE DUST. He again was just a pleasure to watch on the screen with his blonde hair good looks and well toned physique.It was the time of the stars. It was their films, their popularity and faithful fans that kept the movies alive in those days. Now days it's the violence and spectacle that hold court in films. Sadly, the days of glamor have long gone. And the stars with them.

I remembered this films ads. I must have been 10 or 12. It was Linda Darnell & Tab Hunter (a new Hollywood discovery) standing near naked on an island. Well I wanted to see it. I didn't. Years later I finally acquired a VCR tape. It was enjoyable. Great acting. Hardly. The script was all but ridiculous, and no actor could make it into a Shakespearean TEMPEST. They don't try.It does look as tho the actors were having a good time though. This was the movie that made Tab Hunter a star. Linda Darnel was a beauty. And for 1952, this was a hot rendition of look but barely touch. Wonder what the Legion of Decency thought of this film back then?

BBC radio actor Donald Gray was selected to play one of the leads as a Pilot Officer and the story was manipulated around the actor only having one arm having lost it in combat in the War. The story concerned Linda Darnell playing a Canadian Nurse to Tab Hunter playing a US Marine who are stranded during wartime on a Desert Island. A romance develops between the two until Gray is shot down over the Island and Darnell uses her nursing skills to save him. A triangle developes there is a film fight described by Director Henry Hathaway " he intended to make cinema history by staging the toughest and most earthy battle between two love struck beasts for a woman that had ever been filmed.Hunter and Gray took all day to rehearse clout by clout and fall by fall. It came out very hammy with both actors bruised. It was most unlikely a 19 year old ex Life Guard losing to a 37 year old Gray supposedly recently having had his arm amputated. In the end Darnell chooses Gray but only thing about film described as any good was Darnell appearing sultry dressed in rags revealing more flesh than the censor would then have considered decent. The filming set in Jamaica won prizes and Gray's acting was praised. Otherwise it was a flop but did raise money for limbless ex servicemans association. Gray commented that cast were in a 5 star hotel with all expenses paid with warm twilights soft calypso music and the unbelievable beauty of caribbean beaches. Palms waved, frogs whistled and dressing for dinner in a white tuxedo. Gray was rather sad when weather broke and film completed in Elstree Studios. Gray went on to become a Newsreader and then Mark Saber whereas Darnell and Hunter made a name for themselves in Westerns. Unfortunately film shot in technicolour is now sadly not available on video but though dire outdoor locations were breathtaking.