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Unknown Island (1948)

 
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 8:10 pm    Post subject: Unknown Island (1948) Reply with quote

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A 1950s-style science fiction film made in 1948!

This is the first science fiction film in which veteran Richard Denning ("The Creature from the Black Lagoon", "The Black Scorpion", etc.) starred. Unfortunately that's the film's only claim to fame.

The story involves an expedition to an uncharted island where dinosaurs still thrive. Sad to say, the dinosaurs aren't even portrayed by respectable lizards -- they're poorly done men-in-suits which don't even look large, much less convincing.

Ditto for the man-in-the-gorilla-suit which fights one of the dinosaurs.

Virginia Grey is the heroine, and she's no Fay Wray. Tough to get excited about a film done with so little imagination. And yet it's in Cinecolor! Directed by Jack Bernhard.

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Last edited by Bud Brewster on Sun Oct 16, 2022 1:36 pm; edited 5 times in total
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Pow
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 6:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

So many films similar like this one absolutely required the stop-motion animation magic for the creatures of either Obie or Ray Harryhausen.

It wouldn't make these kinda movies true classics given the mediocre scripts.

However, they would all be much more fun to watch due to Obie & Ray's magic.
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Robert (Butch) Day
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 8:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
— the stop-motion animation magic for the creatures of either Obie or Ray Harryhausen. —

What about Marcel Delgado?
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 27, 2017 10:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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IMDB only has three trivia items for this unremarkable little movie, but they're mildly interesting.
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The two-legged dinosaurs (ceratosaurs) were rubber suits worn by actors in the desert of Palmdale, CA. When the explorers shoot grenades at them, one of the beasts falls down, apparently dead. The actor inside the suit actually fainted from the extreme heat, and the director decided to use the footage.





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All the footage of the principal actors was shot on sound stages at General Service Studios (now Hollywood Center Studios). Only the second unit filming dinosaurs and sloth in Palmdale, Corriganville, and the beach, were on location. All shots of the principals and monsters in the same shot were achieved with rear projection effects.
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The scene in which one of the scientists volunteers to be part of an experiment to create a human / dinosaur hybrid was cut from the film for obvious reasons.






(Okay, ya got me. I just made that last one up.) Laughing
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 18, 2021 11:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's a description of the story of Unknown Island, 1948.
from Wikipedia....

"Adventure-seeker Ted Osborne (Phillip Reed) and his fiancée Carole (Virginia Grey) are at a cafe in Singapore, looking for a charter to an island supposedly inhabited by dinosaurs. They come across the ruthless, two fisted, alcohol-suffering Captain Tarnowski (Barton MacLane). They decide to talk, and Osborne asks if Tarnowski is willing to give them a charter in his ship to the unknown island. Initially Tarnowski refuses, but then Osborne tells that during World War II he was a pilot in the US Navy. He had flown over many remote islands, and on one he reported seeing large, moving creatures that looked like Dinosaurs. He shows Tarnowski a photo, and the captain finally agrees to take them there. Before departing, Tarnowski introduces them to John Fairbanks (Richard Denning), an old friend of his, who agrees to help them with their quest. Fairbanks and a group of friends had been shipwrecked on the island with Fairbanks being the lone survivor of attack by the dinosaurs. As Fairbanks had been drinking incessantly to forget the events of the past since his rescue, his account of the dinosaur island was believed to be the result of alcoholism and insanity. Since Fairbanks and Osborne's stories collaborated, Tarnowski agrees to allow his ship to be hired, but specifies that no one in the crew be told of their destination.

They sail aboard Tarnowski's ship, heading for weeks in the direction of French Polynesia, where the island is supposed to be located. During the voyage, it becomes clear that Fairbanks is obviously becoming attracted to Carole, even though she is the fiancée of Osborne. Tarnowski acts mad at Fairbanks because he is afraid of the dinosaurs, and that the island might not be a safe place for Carole.

Some of the crew realize they are headed to a dangerous island, so they mutiny and attack the officers. They lose the fight and are forced to proceed to the island.

The next morning, the ship's first mate spots the island in the distance. As they approach, he spot a Brontosaurus. With the conformation of living dinosaurs inhabiting the island, they become cautious. They unload supplies, and a camp is set up in a forest clearing not far from shore. Whilst exploring the island, they find two Brontosaurus and a Dimetrodon. Then, as they venture out onto the flats of the island, a crewmen is killed by two Ceratosaurus. Knowing these creatures can be a threat, the crew are ordered to guard the camp at all times.

After a near fight between Fairbanks and Osborne because of Carole's safety, a Ground sloth appears near the camp. Carole screams and the men are alerted, but the sloth moves away quickly. The next morning they go back to the flats where they find many Ceratosaurus. The crewmen try to persuade them to leave, and when the first mate agrees with them, he gets into a fight with Tarnowski and is killed when one of the crewmen accidentally throws a knife into his back. The crewman is shot and killed by Tarnowski while the officers focus on driving away the dinosaurs with rifle grenades and explosive bullets. Fairbanks still tries to convince Osborne to leave the island but still he refuses. Eventually though, he feels he has observed the dinosaurs long enough and decides to leave shortly. Tarnowski, however, will not leave the island until he brings back one of the dinosaurs alive, which none of the other men think is right. He starts saying bad things about the men due to the overdose of whiskey he has been drinking.

The crewmen, knowing that the officers are not treating them well, try to steal the lifeboat and get off the island. The officers are alerted, but the crewmen are able to dodge their gunfire and escape. However, they are all killed when a giant wave topples and smashes the boat. The survivors come back to the camp and find it destroyed, because Tarnowski carelessly threw away his match. Knowing that they must soon leave the island, they gather wood and begin building a raft. While Fairbanks and Osborne are working on the raft, Carole is grabbed by Tarnowski, who plays a cruel trick on her. A Ceratosaurus arises but Tarnowski kills it with two grenades and kidnaps Carole. While Fairbanks and Osborne argue about her safety again. Tarnowski tries to convince Carole to leave the island secretly with him but she refuses, and eventually, after he says he will protect her, she doses off with him. Fairbanks meanwhile sets off in search of Carole.

While Carole and Tarnowski are waking up, a Dimetrodon appears. Carole kills it with Tarnowski's gun, and as he tries to kiss her Fairbanks arrives. The two men fight and Tarnowski is knocked out, giving Fairbanks and Carole time to escape. The sloth reappears and kills Tarnowski. As Fairbanks and Carole reach the shores of the island, they are trapped behind a rock during a fight between the sloth and a Ceratosaurus. The sloth wins by knocking the dinosaur off a cliff and walks away. Carole and Fairbanks are shortly reunited with Osborne and another passenger, and the four break camp and leave the island on Tarnowski's boat."

The two-legged dinosaurs (ceratosaurs) were rubber suits worn by actors in the desert of Palmdale, CA. When the explorers shoot grenades at them, one of the beasts falls down, apparently dead. The actor inside the suit actually passed out and later died due extreme heat exhaustion, and the director decided to use the footage of the actor collapsing to his death in the final film.

And here's the cast list....

Cast

Virginia Grey as Carole Lane
Phillip Reed as Ted Osborne
Richard Denning as John Fairbanks
Barton MacLane as Captain Tarnowski
Dick Wessel as ship's first mate
Dan White as Edwards
Phil Nazir as Chief Lascar
Ray "Crash" Corrigan as the sloth

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 19, 2021 7:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gord Green wrote:
The two-legged dinosaurs (ceratosaurs) were rubber suits worn by actors in the desert of Palmdale, CA. When the explorers shoot grenades at them, one of the beasts falls down, apparently dead.

The actor inside the suit actually passed out and later died due extreme heat exhaustion, and the director decided to use the footage of the actor collapsing to his death in the final film.

Good Lord, what a sad story . . . and what a despicable thing for that director to do! Evil or Very Mad
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Pow
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 20, 2021 8:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Richard Denning (1914~1998) had a lengthy acting career.

His SF genre credits along with this film are: Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954), Target Earth (1954), Day the World Ended (1955), Creature With the Atom Brain (1955), Black Scorpion (1957).

He's best remembered for playing Governor Paul Jameson on the TV series Hawaii Five-O from 1968~1980.

Denning was married to Evelyn Ankers (1918~1985) from 1942 to 1985.

Ankers was an actress and starred in: The Wolf Man (1941), Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), Son of Dracula (1943), The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944), and Hold That Ghost (1941) with Abbott & Costello.
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