Island of Lost Men (1939)

An altered remake of 1933's "White Woman," finds cabaret-singer Kim Ling, daughter of a Chinese general who has been accused of absconding with government funds, arriving in the Straits ... See full summary »

Director:

Kurt Neumann

Writers:

Norman Reilly Raine (play), Frank Butler (play),

Stars:

Anna May Wong, J. Carrol Naish, Eric Blore

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Anna May Wong	...	Kim Ling
J. Carrol Naish	...	Gregory Prin
Eric Blore	...	Herbert
Ernest Truex	...	Frobenius
Broderick Crawford	...	Tex Ballister
Anthony Quinn	...	Chang Tai
William Haade	...	Hambly
Rudolf Forster	...	Prof. Sen
Richard Loo	...	Gen. Ahn Ling

Storyline

An altered remake of 1933's "White Woman," finds cabaret-singer Kim Ling, daughter of a Chinese general who has been accused of absconding with government funds, arriving in the Straits Settlement. There, she meets Gregory Prin, a half-caste gun-runner and head of a jungle empire where he treats the Malaysians ruthlessly. She meets Prin and agrees to accompany him in search of her father, as she has several reasons to believe Prin is holding her father prisoner.

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Plot Keywords:

half caste | chinese | general | jungle | prisoner | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 August 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Ilha dos Renegados

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

68 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

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Connections

Remake of White Woman (1933)

User Reviews

Unexpected apologetics

It might be argued that any of the movies starring Anna May Wong has an intrinsic element of Asian sympathy, but at various points in this story I felt they were overdoing it. Even though the story is set in Singapore, for purposes of feasibility I suppose, Wong's character's name is China Lily. Conveniently enough, one of her old friends from China happens to wander through her part of town also. Singapore was just a little fishing village apparently. What underscores the initial emphasis on the "exotic" setting and characters is an early comment by the so-called "King of the River" as he orders in the restaurant - "American style hamburger. Forget the onions." It's all too heavy-handed.

Otherwise the story isn't too bad. She is looking for her father, who happens to be a General, known to most of the other characters and when they discover her relation, their attitudes and motivations change. Through her charm she makes a connection with the King of the River and this leads to a positive resolution, if an expected one for this era.

Some of the weakness of the film, as for most of the era, is its reliance on sets and stock footage. Also, the dance with the drums, which is stereotypically "native" in its primitive appearance, does nothing to enhance the idea that the cultures of Southeast Asia are civilized in any way.

This movie is worth watching if you're a hound for the 1930s style of movie-making, or if you like to see the changes in how various cultures are depicted in American cinema. Otherwise, not much to recommend.