Isle of the Dead
Swiss artist Arnold Bocklin, (1827-1901), is best-remembered for his 1880 painting “Isle of the Dead.” Prints of this piece were once very common throughout Europe. Producer Val Lewton, (1904-1951), was inspired by the painting to create a motion picture of the same name, and played the opening credits over an image of the artwork. This movie was meant to be his first collaboration with Boris Karloff, (1887-1969), but two weeks into filming the actor required back surgery. The completion of this project was delayed and “The Body Snatcher” was filmed before the cast could be reunited. Thus this picture became the second of the three collaborations between Lewton and Karloff.
This week’s movie was “Isle of the Dead” from RKO in 1945, directed by Mark Robson, (1913-1978), from a script by Ardel Wray, (1907-1983). The movie opens during the First Balkan War of 1912 following a victory by Greek “General Nikolas Pherides,” (Karloff). During a lull in the fighting the General decides to cross over to the small island of Pontikonisi to visit the grave of his wife. He is accompanied by American reporter “Oliver Davis,” (Marc Cramer). On the island the two become guests in the home of retired Swiss archaeologist “Aubrecht,” (Jason Robards, Sr.), and his Greek housekeeper “Madame Kyra,” (Helene Thimig). Aubrecht has many other guests including British diplomat “St. Aubyn,” (Alan Napier), his sickly wife “Mary,” (Katherine Emory), her beautiful young Greek caretaker “Thea,” Ellen Drew), and British tin salesman “Andrew Robbins,” (Skelton Knaggs). Kyra is convinced that Thea is a “Vorvolaka,” a type of Greek vampire, and she reveals her belief to the General. Robbins dies suddenly, and military doctor “Drossos,” (Ernst Deutsch), is summoned. He identifies the disease as septicemic plague and places the island under quarantine. Mary reveals that she suffers from catalepsy and that she is terrified that she will be buried alive. She appears to die and is placed in a box in a tomb. She awakens in the box and loses her sanity. Mary breaks free and kills Kyra and stabs the General with a trident before leaping off a cliff to her death.
I found this movie baffling. The pieces just don’t fit together into an interesting storyline. The war, the plague, the Vorvolaka, and the crazed cataleptic don’t mesh together in any meaningful way and fail to build into an enjoyable sense of suspense. Karloff turns in a reasonably good performance as the General, but the other characters are under-developed and no one else really gets a chance to shine. The movie starts off telling the story from the point of view of the reporter, but abandons the character rather quickly and he contributes very little to the film. I really did not like this movie at all.
“Isle of the Dead” was not profitable for RKO and didn’t impress the critics or audiences of the day.
The First Balkan War of 1912 occurred between the allied forces of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro against the Ottoman Empire. Greece gained a considerable amount of territory during the conflict.