''Smuggler's Island'' is a 1951 American

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

directed by

Edward Ludwig Edward Irving Ludwig (October 7, 1899 – August 20, 1982) was a Russian-born American film director and writer. He directed nearly 100 films between 1921 and 1963 (some under the names Edward I. Luddy and Charles Fuhr). Edward Ludwig was bo ...

starring

Jeff Chandler Jeff Chandler (born Ira Grossel; December 15, 1918 – June 17, 1961) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Cochise in '' Broken Arrow'' (1950), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting ...

and Evelyn Keyes Chandler called the film one of his favourites because "I played myself". Around this time Chandler typically played characters of varying nationalities from different historical periods; this was a rare opportunity for him to play a contemporary American. "This is the most conscious effort made so far to sell the Chandler personality per se", he said. "Just plain Jeff Chandler – a nondescript American down on his luck. Filming started in June 1950.

Plot

Steve Kent's boat is repossessed in

Macao Macau or Macao is a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most densely populated region in the world. Formerly a Portuguese colony, the ter ...

, leaving him without a way to make his living as a deep sea diver. At a casino, he is introduced to wealthy and beautiful Vivian Craig, who at first seems interest in Steve romantically, then lets him know that what she needs more is his diving expertise. Agreeing to search for medical supplies lost in a plane crash, Steve goes underwater and locates them. Vivian goes along, and when one of the crates breaks open, Steve sees it actually contains a shipment of stolen gold. At first he intends to turn over Vivian to the authorities, but his attraction to her keeps Steve from doing so. Allan Craig, her husband, then turns up, after the gold. He offers his wife and Steve a three-way split to retrieve the bullion, but after double-crossing them, Allan gets his comeuppance when the boat explodes.

Cast

as Steve Kent * Evelyn Keyes as Vivian Craig * Philip Friend as Allan Craig *

Marvin Miller Marvin Julian Miller (April 14, 1917 – November 27, 2012) was an American labor union leader and baseball executive who served as the first executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) from 1966 to 1982. Miller l ...

as Bok-Ying * Ducky Louie as Kai Lun * David Bauer as Lorca (as David Wolfe) *

Jay Novello Jay Novello (born Michael Romano, August 22, 1904 – September 2, 1982) was an American radio, film, and television character actor. Radio career Novello began his 47-year acting career in the 1930s, performing as a character on radio. ...

as Espinosa * H. T. Tsiang as Chang

Production

The original cast announced for the film was Märta Torén,

Dick Powell Richard Ewing Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and studio head. Though he came to stardom as a musical comedy performer, he showed versatility and successfully transform ...

and Robert Douglas. Evelyn Keyes had just signed a contract with Universal to make nine films over seven years of which this was the first.

References

External links

* * {{Edward Ludwig 1951 films 1950s English-language films 1951 adventure films Films set in Hong Kong Films set in Macau American seafaring films Films about treasure hunting Underwater action films Universal Pictures films American adventure films 1950s American films English-language adventure films