Mysterious Island (1951)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Spencer Gordon Bennet

Writers:

Lewis Clay (screenplay) &
Royal K. Cole (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

23 August 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD SERIAL THRILLS...As Mercury Space Ships Zoom Into This World!

Plot:

Union prisoners use a balloon to escape a Southern prison camp near the end of the Civil War and end up marooned on a mysterious volcanic island with very unusual inhabitants.

Plot Keywords:

Serial | Civil War | Captain Nemo | 1860s | Pirate

Cast

Richard Crane	...	Capt. Cyrus Harding
Marshall Reed	...	Jack Pencroft
Karen Randle	...	Rulu of Mercury
Ralph Hodges	...	Herbert 'Bert' Brown
Gene Roth	...	Pirate Capt. Shard
Hugh Prosser	...	Gideon Spillett
Leonard Penn	...	Capt. Nemo
Terry Frost	...	Ayrton, (the wild man)
Rusty Wescoatt	...	Moley
Bernie Hamilton	...	Neb (as Bernard Hamilton)
William Fawcett	...	Mr. Jackson
George Robotham	...	Mercurian

Runtime:

(15 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #14951-14965) | Finland:K-12

Filming Locations:

Corriganville, Ray Corrigan Ranch, Simi Valley, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Forbidden Bodies (1986) (V)

Decent serial especially for a 50's Columbia

In the Civil War, POW Capt. Cyrus Harding escapes from his Confederate captors in an observation balloon, with sailor Pencroft, his nephew Bert, writer Gideon, and soldier Neb. A hurricane blows the balloon off course to an uncharted island in the pacific. Our heroes soon encounter the natives (who worship the island's volcano), Rulu (a woman from Mercury trying to extract an element in order to conquer the Earth), Ayrton (a wild man exiled on the island), and Capt. Shard (a mercenary pirate). A mystery man, who possesses great scientific powers, also makes his presence known to the group of people, but whose side is he on? For 15 chapters, our quintet of heroes must battle all the elements and peoples while trying to figure a way off the island and back to civilization. It's not a bad serial, but nothing great either. There is a lot of action (while it does seem corny and repetitive at times) and okay cliffhangers. My biggest complaint with the serial (keep in mind I never read the Verne novel) is that it does not seem that the story is taking place in the 1860's and the ray guns, UFO's, and (then) contemporary situations, seem to be taken for granted as existing. Rating, based on serials, 5.