''I Escaped from Devil's Island'' is a 1973

exploitation film An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...

about an escape attempt from

Devil's Island The penal colony of Cayenne ( French: ''Bagne de Cayenne''), commonly known as Devil's Island (''Île du Diable''), was a French penal colony that operated for 100 years, from 1852 to 1952, and officially closed in 1953 in the Salvation Islands ...

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

and

Gene Corman Eugene Harold "Gene" Corman (September 24, 1927 – September 28, 2020) was an American film producer and agent. He and his older brother, Roger, co-founded New World Pictures. Biography Corman entered the film industry before his brother, wo ...

produced this grim adventure saga which was made to cash in on the release of '' Papillon''.

Plot summary

Prison life on Devil's Island is no picnic so fellow prisoners Le Bras (

Jim Brown James Nathaniel Brown (born February 17, 1936) is a former American football player, sports analyst and actor. He played as a fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered to be one ...

) and Davert (

Christopher George Christopher John George (Greek: Χριστόφορος Γεωργίου; February 25, 1931 – November 28, 1983) was an American television and film actor who starred in the 1960s television series ''The Rat Patrol''. He was nominated for a Gol ...

) escape. Along their escape route, they encounter submissive native women and a colony of lepers.

Cast

as Le Bras *

as Davert (as Chris George) * Richard Ely as Joe "Jo-Jo" (as Rick Ely) *

James Luisi James A. Luisi (November 2, 1928 – June 7, 2002) was an American professional basketball player and actor. Luisi is perhaps best known for his role as Lt. Doug Chapman, the apoplectic foil to detective Jim Rockford, in a total of 23 episo ...

as Dazzas * Paul Richards as Major Marteau *

Richard Rust Richard Rust (July 13, 1938 – November 9, 1994) was an American actor of stage, television, and film born in Boston, probably best remembered for his role as a young lawyer in NBC's ''Sam Benedict'' series (1962–1963). Early years Rust ...

as Sergeant Zamorra * Bob Harris as The Barber (as Roland 'Bob' Harris) *

Jan Merlin Jan Merlin (born Jan Wasylewski, April 3, 1925 – September 20, 2019) was an American character actor, television writer, and author. Early years Born Jan Wasylewski and reared in New York City, Merlin was of Polish ancestry. He attended th ...

as Rosenquist * Robert Phillips as Blassier * Stephen Whittaker as Leper Count * Eduardo Rosas López as Sergeant Brescano * Jonathan Dodge as Lieutenant Duplis * Quintín Bulnes as Sergeant Grizzoni * Gabriella Rios as Indian Girl * Ana De Sade as Bedalia

Production

Jim Brown was signed to make the film in December 1972.

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...

says that

offered him the chance to direct the film following ''

Boxcar Bertha ''Boxcar Bertha'' is a 1972 American romantic crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and produced by Roger Corman, from a screenplay by Joyce H. Corrington and John William Corrington, Made on a low budget, the film is loose adaptation o ...

''. "The idea was if you shoot it fast enough, you could release the film before ''Papillon''," he said. "I was still very keen on genre films." However Scorsese decided to make ''

Mean Streets ''Mean Streets'' is a 1973 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese and co-written by Scorsese and Mardik Martin. The film stars Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro. It was released by Warner Bros. on October 2, 1973. De Niro won the National ...

'' instead. He says he had been talked out of doing exploitation films by his friend and colleague

John Cassavetes John Nicholas Cassavetes ( ; December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. First known as a television and film actor, Cassavetes also helped pioneer American independent cinema, writing and dire ...

who urged Scorsese to make something more personal. (Corman also offered Scorsese '' The Arena'' and the director turned that down as well.) William Witney directed instead. Filming started in April 1973 in

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...

. During filming, Witney's wife died of throat cancer. The producers of the similar film '' Papillon'' (1973) sued for copyright infringement but were unsuccessful.Christopher T Koetting, ''Mind Warp!: The Fantastic True Story of Roger Corman's New World Pictures'', Hemlock Books. 2009 p 58

Reception

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...

was an admirer of the film with a script that is "both entertaining and rather complex" and lead characters that "are refreshingly complicated and three dimensional" and a fresh "exploration of the societal dynamics of the community that the island prisoners exist in" in particular The Fancy Boys who "aren’t presented the way the queer population is usually depicted in novels about Alcatraz or other prison-set seventies adventures...

hey Hey or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...

hold their own respected status inside of the island convict community without degradation. They’re respected both as individuals and as the group they represent. And are coveted objects of desire among the convict population."

Video Release

Shout Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...

is releasing ''I Escaped from Devil's Island'' on DVD and Blu-ray on July 15, 2014.

References

External links

* * *
Review of film
at

Joe Dante Joseph James Dante Jr. (; born November 28, 1946) is an American film director, producer, editor and actor. His films—notably ''Gremlins'' (1984) alongside its sequel, '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch'' (1990)—often mix 1950s-style B movies wit ...

{{Roger Corman 1973 films 1970s action films American action films 1970s exploitation films Films directed by William Witney Films produced by Gene Corman Films scored by Les Baxter Films set in 1916 Films set on Devil's Island United Artists films 1970s prison films Films produced by Roger Corman 1970s English-language films 1970s American films