''Thunder Island'' is a 1963 American

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

directed by Jack Leewood, written by Don Devlin and

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. Nicholson is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, often playing rebels fighting against the social structure. Over his five-de ...

, and starring

Gene Nelson Gene Nelson (born Leander Eugene Berg; March 24, 1920 – September 16, 1996) was an American actor, dancer, screenwriter, and director. Biography Nelson was born Eugene Leander Berg in Seattle, Washington. By 1924, he and his parents mov ...

Fay Spain Lona Fay Spain (October 6, 1932 – May 8, 1983) was an American actress in motion pictures and television. Early years Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Fay Spain was the younger of two daughters born to Robert C. Spain and Arminta Frances "Mick ...

, Brian Kelly,

Míriam Colón Míriam Colón Valle (August 20, 1936 – March 3, 2017) was a Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican actress. She was the founder and director of New York City's Puerto Rican Traveling Theater. Beginning her career in the early 1950s, she performed on Bro ...

, Art Bedard and Antonio Torres Martino. The film was made by Robert L. Lippert's Associated Producers and released in September 1963, by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

. Actor

co-wrote the screenplay.

Plot

Contract killer Billy Poole is hired to assassinate a South American dictator. When he arrives, he and associate Anita Chavez arrange to have an innocent bystander, advertising man Vincent Dodge, take them by boat to the intended victim's island compound, holding Vincent's wife Helen hostage. Poole is able only to wound his target. After killing his accomplice Anita himself, Poole is shot by Vincent, who then rescues his wife.

Cast

as Billy Poole *

as Helen Dodge * Brian Kelly as Vincent Dodge *

as Anita Chavez *Art Bedard as Ramon Alou *Antonio Torres Martino as Colonel Cepeda * Esther Sandoval as Rena *José de San Antón as Antonio Perez *Evelyn Kaufman as Jo Dodge *Stephanie Rifkinson as Linda Perez

Production

co-wrote the film early in his career. He and Don Devlin were paid $1,250. The film was shot in Puerto Rico. Robert L. Lippert was impressed with Nicholson's work and hired him as a writer and actor for ''

Flight to Fury ''Flight to Fury'' is a 1964 film starring Jack Nicholson, Fay Spain, Vic Diaz and Dewey Martin. The film was directed by Monte Hellman and filmed back to back with '' Back Door to Hell'' in the Philippines in 1964. Nicholson was one of the w ...

'' shot in the Philippines.

References

External links

*
''Thunder Island''
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of ...

''Thunder Island''
at BFI 1963 films 1963 action films American action films Films shot in Puerto Rico Films about contract killing 20th Century Fox films Films with screenplays by Jack Nicholson Films scored by Paul Sawtell Films scored by Bert Shefter Films set in South America 1960s English-language films 1960s American films English-language action films Films about assassinations {{action-film-stub