''Saturday Island'' is a 1952 British south seas adventure romance film directed by

Stuart Heisler Stuart Heisler (December 5, 1896 – August 21, 1979) was an American film and television director. He was a son of Luther Albert Heisler (1855–1916), a carpenter, and Frances Baldwin Heisler (1857–1935). He worked as a motion picture editor ...

and starring Linda Darnell, Tab Hunter and Donald Gray. The film was produced by independent company Coronado Productions with the financial backing of

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...

who distributed it in Britain. It was released in America by United Artists under the alternative title ''Island of Desire''.

Synopsis

When a hospital ship strikes a mine during the Second World War, the only survivors are Lieutenant Elizabeth Smythe and Corporal Michael Dugan, who become marooned on an island in the

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, where they slowly bond. Their relationship is complicated by the arrival of a third person, a survivor of a plane crash.

Production

The film was based on a novel by Hugh Brooke which was published in 1935. The ''New York Times'' called it "a delightful adventure". Film rights came into the hands of

David E. Rose David Edward Rose (22 November 1924 – 26 January 2017) was a British television producer and commissioning editor. At the BBC Following war service flying on 34 missions in Lancaster bombers, he trained as an actorDonald Gray signed to play the second male lead. Location filming started in Jamaica on 1 July 1951. The second male lead eventually went to Tab Hunter. Hunter was recommended by Paul Guilfoyle a character actor who heard Heisler was looking for an unknown. Hunter went to see Heisler who asked the actor to take off his shirt. He tested on Saturday and by Monday was getting his passport to travel to Jamaica.A Critic's Remark and Hard Work Put Tab Hunter on Top: Critic and Work Spur Tab Hunter Hopper, Hedda. Los Angeles Times 13 Feb 1955: D1. Interiors were shot at Walton Studios near London. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

John Howell.

Cast

* Linda Darnell as Lieutenant Elizabeth Smythe * Tab Hunter as Marine Corporal Michael J. 'Chicken' Dugan * Donald Gray as William Peck * John Laurie as Grimshaw * Sheila Chong as Tukua * Russell Waters as Dr. Snyder * MacDonald Parke as Ship's Captain * Michael Newell as Edie * Lloyd Lamble as Officer of the Watcg * Peter Butterworth as Wounded Marine * Harold Ayer as Marine Sergeant * Diana Decker as Nurse * Hilda Fenemore as Nurse * Joan Benham as Nurse * Brenda Hogan as Nurse * Katharine Blake as Nurse

References

Bibliography

* Harper, Sue & Porter, Vincent. ''British Cinema of the 1950s: The Decline of Deference''. Oxford University Press, 2007.

External links