In 1905, Lord Henry Loam, his family and his servants are shipwrecked on a deserted island where the survival of the fittest renders the rigid class system irrelevant.
Lord Loam has modern ideas about his household; he believes in treating his servants as his equals - at least sometimes. His butler, Crichton, still believes that members of the serving class should know their place and be happy there. But when the Loam family are shipwrecked on a desert island with the self-reliant Crichton and between maid Tweeny, the class system is put to the test.Written by
George S. Davis <mgeorges@prodigy.net>
The film was released in the US as "Paradise Lagoon." The distributors feared that if they used the original J.M. Barrie title the public would think the film was about a naval officer. See more »
Goofs
When land is first sighted, Tweeny has only one arm on the oar when the binoculars are passed to Crichton. In the next shot, when Crichton is looking through the binoculars, she has both arms on the oar. See more »
Quotes
Lady Mary:
Are you ambitious?
Bill Crichton:
Ambitious? For what?
Lady Mary:
To better yourself.
Bill Crichton:
My lady! I am the son of a butler and a lady's maid. The happiest of all combinations. To me the most beautiful thing in the world is a haughty English aristocratic home with everyone kept in his place.
Lady Mary:
That's not how my father would have it.
Bill Crichton:
Indeed, he would not, my lady. He would have equality for all. But what good would that do? Any satisfaction I might derive out of being your equal would be ruined by the footman being equal to me.
See more »
Crazy Credits
Opening credits prologue: LOAM HALL ENGLAND 1905 See more »
Many people criticise J.M. Barrie for being far too whimsical with his stories, but there is nothing wrong with some whimsy now and again - and this is a cracking example. The aristocratic "Loam" family set off on their yacht "the Bluebell" for a cruise around the South seas. A storm forces them to abandon ship and they alight on a beautiful desert island where their established, very formal, order is soon re-evaluated - resulting in a pretty comprehensive role-reversal between their butler "Crichton" (Kenneth More) and the entire family led by "Lord Loam" (Cecil Parker) and his daughters who after initially hoping to hold something of their erstwhile rank all realise that they simply must adapt. It's riddled with strong, engaging performances from Sally Ann Howes as the rather aloof "Lady Mary", a superbly loveable "Tweeny" (Diane Cilento) and Martita Hunt is formidable as the "Countess of Brocklehurst". It does take a very genial swipe at the preposterousness of the landed gentry who couldn't tie their own shoelaces, and also at the ridiculousness of the British class system as it most polarised - but it does it in a gently comedic way, and is really quite effective with that - not so underlying - theme. The direction is well paced and there's even a hint of romance... for everyone! If you like the story - try out Cecil B. de Mille's "Male and Female" (1919), but it's not such fun as this flighty, characterful depiction of a good story.
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Many people criticise J.M. Barrie for being far too whimsical with his stories, but there is nothing wrong with some whimsy now and again - and this is a cracking example. The aristocratic "Loam" family set off on their yacht "the Bluebell" for a cruise around the South seas. A storm forces them to abandon ship and they alight on a beautiful desert island where their established, very formal, order is soon re-evaluated - resulting in a pretty comprehensive role-reversal between their butler "Crichton" (Kenneth More) and the entire family led by "Lord Loam" (Cecil Parker) and his daughters who after initially hoping to hold something of their erstwhile rank all realise that they simply must adapt. It's riddled with strong, engaging performances from Sally Ann Howes as the rather aloof "Lady Mary", a superbly loveable "Tweeny" (Diane Cilento) and Martita Hunt is formidable as the "Countess of Brocklehurst". It does take a very genial swipe at the preposterousness of the landed gentry who couldn't tie their own shoelaces, and also at the ridiculousness of the British class system as it most polarised - but it does it in a gently comedic way, and is really quite effective with that - not so underlying - theme. The direction is well paced and there's even a hint of romance... for everyone! If you like the story - try out Cecil B. de Mille's "Male and Female" (1919), but it's not such fun as this flighty, characterful depiction of a good story.