Mysterious Island (1961)

 

Mysterious Island was one of a slew of pictures produced by Charles Schneer that specialised in action adventure coupled with stop motion monsters courtesy of Ray Harryhausen. Yet it lacks the flair and invention of others and comes across, despite the presence of big monsters, as rather uneventful. It is an attempt at less outlandish rather than mythical creatures; all of the dangers on the island are simply overgrown species we recognise and unfortunately this robs the story of a lot of excitement. Well, would you rather see a cyclops come to life or a giant chicken trying to be menacing?

 

 Though set largely on an island closer to New Zealand than anywhere else the movie’s location was Spain and it is populated by mostly English actors despite the characters being American.  The year is 1865 and the American civil war is happening. During a storm that occurs while they are also under attack, a group of union soldiers escape from a prison taking a confederate guard and a newspaper journalist along with them in a balloon. Its handily tethered and ready yet the escape is shot with considerable dramatic impact raising hope this is going to be a really great film.

Their perilous voyage takes them across the ocean until they end up ditched on a seemingly remote volcanic tropical island. While they soon manage to adjust to their situation and are joined by two ladies whose ship has sunk nearby, it soon becomes clear they are not alone. Not only is the place harbouring giant animals but somebody seems to be covertly helping them. The film is based (very loosely say those who have read it) on the Jules Verne novel and I imagine the book at least spices up matters rather more than the movie does.

Certainly in this version the broader potential of the scenario is never fully realised, While the script takes lengthy excursions into the methods by which they find food, build a shelter and look after themselves you feel the creature attacks are somewhat perfunctory like when you're working outside and it starts to rain. Also the potential for conflict amongst the stranded people given their differing backgrounds is largely ignored. In a modern film you can imagine this would play out before the creatures start attacking  but even the confederate guard only does a bit of token griping before chipping in. There is no debate either about the conflict from which they have come. The arrival of the women is seemingly only included to allow them to bring homely touches and a very chaste romance with the youngest soldier. Nobody starts going crazy, nobody breaks ranks, it all very tame. If you want to know how to build a makeshift hut, survive on a desert island and deal with a giant chicken though it’s a winner.

Of course the main selling point is the creatures but even here matters fall somewhat short.  While the joins will always show when we look at special effects of this vintage compared to what can be done now and the stop motion work has dated, often it can still thrill. Look at the Sinbad movies; those animations still look great. Whether due to budget, time or the director's unfamiliarity with the technology you can see the joins in this film. Even given the limitations there is more potential with the giant crab or the massive bees than the film achieves. It’s not just the more primitive effects it’s the fact that the the sequences are very one note- the giant animal stalks about, the humans wave sticks and then something happens to give them an advantage.

Stop motion works better anyway for imaginary monsters like the sort you’d see in many of the other films Ray Harryhausen worked on. When utilised for regular animals it is less effective, a nadir being the giant chicken which looks completely unthreatening despite what it is made to do. The best effects come late in the day when our crew tussle with a giant octopus and all of the later underwater shots are well mounted adding a surreal quality that the rest of film could do with. There is an over the top finale but this comes a bit late despite being suitably tense. 

Cy Endfield was by all accounts a difficult director to work with- star Michael Craig had nothing good to say about him – yet he does seem to have a flair at times. Some of the camera work benefits from a more modern feel to it, point of view and all. He handles the escape in the balloon really well making it as chaotic, noisy and frantic as it would be and the final section is equally well choreographed. 

Really though the weaknesses lie in the script. Movies like this rely on the interaction between the characters because building shelters and foraging for food is not that interesting. Our stranded group are all too similar and too serious giving the impression of a cast gritting their teeth and getting on with it. Matters are lifted when Herbert Lom shows up three quarters in as Captain Nemo, this story being the character’s final one in Verne's books. The actor adds much needed melodrama that this sort of movie needs though this is actually a rather restrained performance for him 

Usually you can say about these old films that, despite the limitations they’re fun to watch but in truth Mysterious Island is a bit of a slog though it might be worth seeing just in case you ever find yourself stranded on a desert island.