Il mostro dell'isola (1954)

Director:

Roberto Bianchi Montero

Writers:

Roberto Bianchi Montero
Carlo Lombardo (story)
(more)

Release Date:

1957 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Plot:

An Italian government agent is assigned to break up a drug smuggling ring on the island of Ischia but his daughter is kidnapped by the gang. |

Plot Keywords:

Daughter | Island | Drug Smuggling | Italian | Gang

Cast

Boris Karloff	...	Don Gaetano
Franca Marzi	...	Gloria D'Auro (as Frana Marzi)
Renato Vicario	...	Ten. Mario Andreani
Patrizia Remiddi	...	Fiorella Andreani (as Patricia Remiddi)
Jole Fierro	...	Giulia
Carlo Duse	...	Foster
Germana Paolieri	...	Adalgisa
Giuseppe Chinnici	...	Maresciallo Antonio Carcani
Giulio Battiferri	...	Il rapitore
Domenico De Nimmo	...	Uomo di Pozzuoli
Clara Gamberini	...	La contessa
Salvatore Scibetta	...	Col. Della Finanza
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Giuseppe Addobbati	...	Direttore 'Sirena'
Gianni Breschi
Bruna Camerini
Alberto D'Amario	...	Morozzi
Angelo Dessy	...	Un contrabandiere
Kitty Vinciguerra

Directed by
Roberto Bianchi Montero		(as Roberto Montero)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Roberto Bianchi Montero		(as Roberto Montero)
Carlo Lombardo		story
Alberto Vecchietti

Produced by
Fortunato Misiano	....	executive producer (as Franco Misiano)

Original Music by
Carlo Innocenzi		(as Mo. Carlo Innocenzi)

Cinematography by
Augusto Tiezzi

Film Editing by
Jolanda Benvenuti

Art Department
Italo Tomassi	....	manager of art department (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Romana Film

Distributors

• Image Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• LS Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Mill Creek Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Retromedia Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (????) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

"The Island Monster" - USA (TV title)
"The Monster of the Island" - USA (TV title)

Runtime:

USA:87 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Incir De Paolis Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Romana Film

4 Years was not long enough!

Don't be fooled by the title or the presence of Boris Karloff, this is a dire Italian-made crime picture.

Any virtue the proceedings may have had (and that would seem to be precious little) is sabotaged by the atrocious dubbing. It is possible to get by dubbing little known Italian players, although the young child does sound as if she's been voiced by a woman whose inhaled too much helium, but to dub Boris Karloff is beyond forgiveness. Especially when it's been done by someone doing a half-hearted impression of the great man.

Plot-wise things are pretty grim too with all the clichés of the genre being firmly present and correct. There's a mysterious criminal mastermind, a smoky nightclub, a femme fatale and the requisite number of obvious double-crosses, lack lustre car chases and terrible dialogue. `It's impossible to get anywhere with you,' the nightclub singer sighs from deep within her cleavage, `you're so cool you're always sure to maintain your equilibrium.'

‘Our hero' is an undercover treasury agent and I can't help thinking that he needs a few pointers in how to do the job. The first thing he does when he arrives on the scene is to visit police headquarters and go out on a launch accompanied by the local chief officers. All in broad daylight! Not surprisingly it doesn't take long for the local crooks to blow his cover, although they do fail to recognise him later on when he poses as a member of a rival syndicate from Genoa. Perhaps it was his brilliant disguise of taking off his suit!

It's anybody's guess why Boris agreed to appear in this but perhaps roles were a little thin on the ground at this point in his career. On the other hand, it may simply have been that he fancied a free Italian holiday, which would also explain his presence in ‘Sabaka' (1954), a similarly eccentric choice from around this time. That one was filmed entirely on location in India. Nice work if you can get it.

Finally special mention must be reserved for `International Stars Jeanette and Bob' who present the worst nightclub dance act ever committed to celluloid. Sometimes seeing is believing.

It took four years for this to get a release in the U.S. I wonder why?