This is a decent film noir production. It stars John Payne in the latter portion of his career--when he was no longer a pretty-boy or light-weight singer. He was good as an angry noir hero and I certainly thought that he was up to the task. However, the plot is another story. While it's not bad, it's VERY, VERY familiar--like the writer was simply regurgitating portions of other movies he'd recently seen. In MANY ways, it's a reworking of "The Maltese Falcon" that is set in Mexico--and even has a similar sort of dame and a fat guy doing a Sidney Greenstreet imitation! It is also like several other B-movies I've seen over the years. Nothing particularly original about this one. It's got a few weaknesses (the woman is so OBVIOUSLY evil yet our hero doesn't recognize this for the longest time--even though he's a well-educated guy!) and about all you'd expect from a film of this sort--double-crosses, murders and the like. A decent time-passer but no more.
11 Reviews
Solid Karlson/Payne effort...plus the amazing Mary Murphy*
ripplinbuckethead2 September 2019
We begin with a scene under the opening credits where a man (John Payne) is being held at gunpoint by a man in a wheelchair and his cronies. What's going on? Turns out the one being held up is a former D.A. assistant, now a bouncer, hired to retrieve a missing ruby on a Caribbean island, where he knows his ex-girlfriend (Mary Murphy) is. When he gets there and sees her in a market, she runs away. He finds out that there is intrigue aplenty and his ex is possibly in it up to her neck. Can he trust her?
This was a decent one, the third of three teamings of John Payne with director Phil Karlson. (first was Kansas City Confidential, second was 99 River Street) It uses a lot of familiar elements from other noirs and does so mostly successfully. I found the story kinda bogged down here and there, but is generally solid. Some good action and surprises.
The other two movies I mentioned are better, especially the mighty K.C.C., but this is still worth a look, especially if you enjoy Payne as a tough guy.
As an aside, Mary Murphy sure can walk away!
*the lovely actress, not the incredibly annoying screeching woman on those dance shows!
This was a decent one, the third of three teamings of John Payne with director Phil Karlson. (first was Kansas City Confidential, second was 99 River Street) It uses a lot of familiar elements from other noirs and does so mostly successfully. I found the story kinda bogged down here and there, but is generally solid. Some good action and surprises.
The other two movies I mentioned are better, especially the mighty K.C.C., but this is still worth a look, especially if you enjoy Payne as a tough guy.
As an aside, Mary Murphy sure can walk away!
*the lovely actress, not the incredibly annoying screeching woman on those dance shows!
Hell's Island (1955)
MartinTeller3 January 2012
A guy gets hired to find someone's ruby and some stuff happens. Sorry to be so vague, but it's a nondescript kind of movie. Very familiar scenario with the usual shadowy characters, convoluted backstory, femme fatale, double-crosses, witnesses suddenly getting killed, and so forth. It's executed well enough but has little spark. Earlier Phil Karlson directed John Payne in 99 RIVER STREET and KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL, both much more exciting and memorable films. Not that Payne is bad here, nor is the direction, it's just a meh movie. It is a joy to see Francis L. Sullivan... although he doesn't much screen time, he does have a hell of an exit scene. As for the visual style, it's a VistaVision Technicolor production... unfortunately my copy was fullscreen, faded and damaged, so I can't really comment. Worthwhile if you really need a noir fix, but pretty bland.
Karlson & Payne's third collaboration
jarrodmcdonald-11 October 2015
Warning: Spoilers
HELL'S ISLAND was the third Karlson-Payne film project, a color noir shot in widescreen. This time the director and star were not working for independent producer Edward Small, but instead for the Pine-Thomas unit at Paramount. The somewhat larger budget given this production allowed it to be made in Technicolor and VistaVision. The story has Payne in pursuit of a stolen ruby down in the Caribbean, which causes him to cross paths with an ex-girlfriend who deals in deception. Mary Murphy plays the femme fatale; and Paul Picerni is her imprisoned husband that Payne may or may not help break out of jail. Karlson's hard-hitting direction was praised, and so were the colorful characters, and Payne's tough performance.
In addition to the three film noirs they made together, Karlson and Payne would collaborate again on television. They both worked on the Studio 57 episode 'Deadline' broadcast on February 26, 1956.
In addition to the three film noirs they made together, Karlson and Payne would collaborate again on television. They both worked on the Studio 57 episode 'Deadline' broadcast on February 26, 1956.
Sharks In And Out Of The Water
boblipton10 November 2019
John Payne was engaged to Mary Murphy. She left him for a rich man, so Payne replaced her with a dive into the bottle. Eventually he came out of it as a bouncer in a Vegas gambling casino in a tux. Francis L. Sullivan offers him $5000 to go to a small Caribbean island, where Miss Murphy's husband has a very expensive gem belonging to Sullivan, and is in prison for murdering a man.
It's a color film noir of the beat-them-up variety, complete with Payne waking up in a cell with sharks around... providing a link from melodramas to James Bond. Payne had spent the 1930s and 1940s as a contract player, but as he aged, he moved into more violent roles, with some nice work that kept him in the leading man category, but not quite a major star. He was the first Hollywood figure to be sufficiently interested in James Bond to option one of the novels. His movie career ended in the 1960s and he spent the rest of his career doing high-profile guest shots on TV. He died at age 77 in 1989.
It's a color film noir of the beat-them-up variety, complete with Payne waking up in a cell with sharks around... providing a link from melodramas to James Bond. Payne had spent the 1930s and 1940s as a contract player, but as he aged, he moved into more violent roles, with some nice work that kept him in the leading man category, but not quite a major star. He was the first Hollywood figure to be sufficiently interested in James Bond to option one of the novels. His movie career ended in the 1960s and he spent the rest of his career doing high-profile guest shots on TV. He died at age 77 in 1989.
Karlson and Payne again
tony-70-66792023 May 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This is the third and final collaboration between Phil Karlson and John Payne, and the law of diminishing returns applies. "Kansas City Confidential" was terrific, "99 River Street" was pretty good, but this one is only okay. One problem is that it's filmed in colour, which for me diminishes the impact of a noir. "Hell's Island", with its debt to "The Maltese Falcon," is certainly noirish.
The film starts with a scene in which Payne is shot by a fat man in a mechanised wheelchair (Francis L. Sullivan, since Sidney Greenstreet was no more.) There's then an hilarious scene in which, while being patched up on the operating table by a surgeon he smokes a couple of cigarettes (things were obviously very different in the 1950s!) The rest of the film is mostly flashback. Payne plays Mike McCormack, a man who used to be a lawyer. After losing his girlfriend (Mary Murphy) to a wealthier man he hit the bottle and was reduced to working as a bouncer in a Las Vegas casino. I don't mean to be unkind, but he's more convincing as a bouncer and later adventurer than as a lawyer, since he always came across as slightly dumb, more brawn than brains. That's helpful here, as it explains why Mike still carries a torch for his ex, who's plainly a gold-digging bad lot (the Mary Astor substitute.) Payne is approached by Sullivan to recover a priceless ruby lost in a plane crash on a Caribbean island. He agrees, since Murphy lives on the island, and her husband, who owned the plane, is a smuggler now imprisoned on a penal colony on a nearby island. Murphy asks Payne to rescue her husband (Paul Picerni, fondly remembered from "The Untouchables", for which Karlson directed the pilot.)
The film is rather routine, but there are definite pluses. Sullivan is as impressive as usual : sad to think he died the year after this was made, aged only 53. Eduardo Noriega and Arnold Moss, policeman and art dealer respectively, give stylish performances, and though Picerni has only one scene it's a treat. He's quite happy in prison, as it means he's safe from his very fatale femme. At last the scales drop from Mike's eyes.
The film starts with a scene in which Payne is shot by a fat man in a mechanised wheelchair (Francis L. Sullivan, since Sidney Greenstreet was no more.) There's then an hilarious scene in which, while being patched up on the operating table by a surgeon he smokes a couple of cigarettes (things were obviously very different in the 1950s!) The rest of the film is mostly flashback. Payne plays Mike McCormack, a man who used to be a lawyer. After losing his girlfriend (Mary Murphy) to a wealthier man he hit the bottle and was reduced to working as a bouncer in a Las Vegas casino. I don't mean to be unkind, but he's more convincing as a bouncer and later adventurer than as a lawyer, since he always came across as slightly dumb, more brawn than brains. That's helpful here, as it explains why Mike still carries a torch for his ex, who's plainly a gold-digging bad lot (the Mary Astor substitute.) Payne is approached by Sullivan to recover a priceless ruby lost in a plane crash on a Caribbean island. He agrees, since Murphy lives on the island, and her husband, who owned the plane, is a smuggler now imprisoned on a penal colony on a nearby island. Murphy asks Payne to rescue her husband (Paul Picerni, fondly remembered from "The Untouchables", for which Karlson directed the pilot.)
The film is rather routine, but there are definite pluses. Sullivan is as impressive as usual : sad to think he died the year after this was made, aged only 53. Eduardo Noriega and Arnold Moss, policeman and art dealer respectively, give stylish performances, and though Picerni has only one scene it's a treat. He's quite happy in prison, as it means he's safe from his very fatale femme. At last the scales drop from Mike's eyes.
Boiler Plate 1954 film noir in color...
filmalamosa21 June 2012
Actually this film is below boiler plate it is poor quality. You know where the ruby is from the get go...and nothing that is supposed to be suspenseful is--the denouement has zero suspense.
The other reviews cover the story.... femme fatale gets caught. A lot of film-noirs are very intelligently written not this one!= pure chaff...no grain here.
I kind of liked the prequel to James Bond villains with the man in the wheel chair with a wonderful British dead pan accent.
Spanish was making its first in roads into Hollywood at that time-- too many of the actors looked like Gringos smeared with tons of dark make up...but there was a surprising amount of authentic Spanish.
Don't rent or watch unless you like the actors as other reviewers did.
The other reviews cover the story.... femme fatale gets caught. A lot of film-noirs are very intelligently written not this one!= pure chaff...no grain here.
I kind of liked the prequel to James Bond villains with the man in the wheel chair with a wonderful British dead pan accent.
Spanish was making its first in roads into Hollywood at that time-- too many of the actors looked like Gringos smeared with tons of dark make up...but there was a surprising amount of authentic Spanish.
Don't rent or watch unless you like the actors as other reviewers did.
Pungent John Payne/Phil Karlson duo team up for last time
bmacv27 December 2001
After 99 River Street and Kansas City Confidential, world-weary bruiser John Payne teams up with director Phil Karlson for Hell's Island, this time in VistaVision (Payne apparently had the foresight to see that television would become a profitable market for color films). After being jilted, Payne drank himself out of a job in the L.A. district attorney's office and now serves as bouncer in a Vegas casino. A wheelchair-bound stranger (Francis L. Sullivan) engages him to locate a ruby that disappeared in a Caribbean plane crash; the bait is that it may be in the possession of the woman (Mary Murphy) who jilted him. Payne flies off to Santo Rosario and into a web of duplicity at whose center Murphy waits (she does the "femme" better than she does the "fatale," however). There's a splendid moment when she shuts up her doors and draws the curtains on the memory of her rich busband, now in a penal colony across the subtropical waters for supposedly causing the deadly crash. The movie's texture is spun from Payne's carrying a torch that fails to illuminate the amplitude of clues and warning signals all around him. Professionally done if not especially memorable, Hell's Island remains an enjoyable color noir -- the Payne/Karlson combo rarely disappoints.
Tropic Noir
bkoganbing14 December 2012
John Payne teamed with director Phil Karlson in the last of their three collaborations. Not as good as Kansas City Confidential, Hell's Island still packs quite a wallop. And Mary Astor from The Maltese Falcon, Claire Trevor from Murder My Sweet, and Jane Greer from Out Of The Past have nothing on Mary Murphy as one scheming two timing dame.
The ever avuncular Francis L. Sullivan hires Payne who was once involved with Murphy to go to some Caribbean island and check on a ruby that her husband Paul Picerni smuggled into the country. He figures that Payne can get close to her. Picerni is on another island in prison.
Payne and Murphy were supposed to be married, but she threw him over for the high flying and high living Picerni. Presumably when she married him Murphy did not know about the smuggling that allowed him to live the good life in the tropics.
Three murders later and Payne who is still carrying a Statue of Liberty size torch for Murphy starts to wise up. Paul Picerni only has one scene in the film and it's with Payne. He tells him the facts of life and really opens up his eyes, can't say more.
Mary Murphy is probably best known as the good girl that biker Marlon Brando fell for in The Wild One. But as far as I'm concerned Hell's Island contains her career performance.
If you see this fine tropic noir film, I think you'll agree.
The ever avuncular Francis L. Sullivan hires Payne who was once involved with Murphy to go to some Caribbean island and check on a ruby that her husband Paul Picerni smuggled into the country. He figures that Payne can get close to her. Picerni is on another island in prison.
Payne and Murphy were supposed to be married, but she threw him over for the high flying and high living Picerni. Presumably when she married him Murphy did not know about the smuggling that allowed him to live the good life in the tropics.
Three murders later and Payne who is still carrying a Statue of Liberty size torch for Murphy starts to wise up. Paul Picerni only has one scene in the film and it's with Payne. He tells him the facts of life and really opens up his eyes, can't say more.
Mary Murphy is probably best known as the good girl that biker Marlon Brando fell for in The Wild One. But as far as I'm concerned Hell's Island contains her career performance.
If you see this fine tropic noir film, I think you'll agree.
Maltese Falcon for the 50's
dougdoepke4 July 2015
Looks like Paramount decided to make a version of The Maltese Falcon (1941), in Vista Vision, no less. Frankly, I would have preferred good old b&w for the noir material, but then who's going to leave their new-fangled 1955 TV for more b&w. The plot may be familiar— a ruthless spider woman tricks a fall guy for insurance money– but it's still slickly done. Then too, Payne grimaces appropriately as schemes unfold around him, while Murphy looks the part of a deadly bon-bon. Still, she lacks that inner spider dimension that Mary Astor revealed so tellingly in the original. And what about ex-wrestler Sandor Szabo as what else but a gruesome thug.
I had trouble following all the twists and turns of who did what to whom, but I guess it all got explained in the wrap. Too bad production didn't work in more raw evil since director Karlson can really make you feel it. No this is no Phenix City Story (1955) or Kansas City Confidential (1952), the culmination of Karlson's career, at least in my little book. But the results are still engaging, thanks to Payne, a sensually recumbent Murphy, and a fat guy not named Sydney Greenstreet.
I had trouble following all the twists and turns of who did what to whom, but I guess it all got explained in the wrap. Too bad production didn't work in more raw evil since director Karlson can really make you feel it. No this is no Phenix City Story (1955) or Kansas City Confidential (1952), the culmination of Karlson's career, at least in my little book. But the results are still engaging, thanks to Payne, a sensually recumbent Murphy, and a fat guy not named Sydney Greenstreet.
What will not ladies do for jewels?
clanciai13 March 2018
This is a surprisingly good movie for being a B feature with no stars and no special names of attraction to it. Above all, it's a well composed and intriguing story. It's a tropical noir in flamboyant colour and with Francis L. Sullivan as the most interesting character, here in a wheel-chair, leading the hunt for a missing invaluable ruby lost in an air crash on this unidentifiable Caribbean island full of mysteries.
The leading lady, a former mistress of John Payne's, is the spider in the web of the mysteries with a husband locked up for life and imprisoned on another island outside as responsible for the death of the one casualy of the air crash, who had the ruby. Well, let's not proceed any further here, since the story as such with all its intrigues and tunnels, twists and turns cannot be told better than by the film.
The very adequate music adds to the magic of the tropical island and the dame of mysteries and intrigue, and there will be some more casualties before the skies eventually will clear and show what really happened, Francis L. Sullivan making the most striking exit in his wheel-chair.
The leading lady, a former mistress of John Payne's, is the spider in the web of the mysteries with a husband locked up for life and imprisoned on another island outside as responsible for the death of the one casualy of the air crash, who had the ruby. Well, let's not proceed any further here, since the story as such with all its intrigues and tunnels, twists and turns cannot be told better than by the film.
The very adequate music adds to the magic of the tropical island and the dame of mysteries and intrigue, and there will be some more casualties before the skies eventually will clear and show what really happened, Francis L. Sullivan making the most striking exit in his wheel-chair.
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