Hell's Island (1955)

Down-on-his-luck Mike Cormack is hired to fly to a Caribbean island to retrieve a missing ruby. On the island, possibly involved with the ruby's disappearance, is his ex-girlfriend.

Director:

Phil Karlson

Writers:

Martin Goldsmith (story), Jack Leonard (story),

Stars:

John Payne, Mary Murphy, Francis L. Sullivan

Cast

Complete credited cast:
John Payne	...	Mike Cormack
Mary Murphy	...	Janet Martin
Francis L. Sullivan	...	Barzland
Eduardo Noriega	...	Inspector Peña
Arnold Moss	...	Paul Armand
Walter Reed	...	Lawrence
Sándor Szabó	...	Johann Torbig (as Sandor Szabo)
Pepe Hern	...	Lalo
Robert Cabal	...	Miguel--Houseboy
Paul Picerni	...	Eduardo Martin

Storyline

Down-on-his-luck Mike Cormack is hired to fly to a Caribbean island to retrieve a missing ruby. On the island, possibly involved with the ruby's disappearance, is his ex-girlfriend.

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Plot Keywords:

ruby | caribbean | apostrophe in title | penal colony | marketplace | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 May 1955 (USA)

Also Known As:

Love is a Weapon

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pine-Thomas Productions, Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Mike Cormack: I've been beaten, badgered, hit over the head, and mixed up in three killings, and believe me, I'm going to find out why.

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Connections

Referenced in Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore (2010)

User Reviews

Boiler Plate 1954 film noir in color...

Actually this film is below boiler plate it is poor quality. You know where the ruby is from the get go...and nothing that is supposed to be suspenseful is--the denouement has zero suspense.

The other reviews cover the story.... femme fatale gets caught. A lot of film-noirs are very intelligently written not this one!= pure chaff...no grain here.

I kind of liked the prequel to James Bond villains with the man in the wheel chair with a wonderful British dead pan accent.

Spanish was making its first in roads into Hollywood at that time-- too many of the actors looked like Gringos smeared with tons of dark make up...but there was a surprising amount of authentic Spanish.

Don't rent or watch unless you like the actors as other reviewers did.