Really Surprised!

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

This is a horrid little film from P.R.C. Studios and I have to assume the P.R.C. stands for "Producing Real Crap". By no sane person's standards should anyone have given this turkey a 10, though somehow this has happened. P.R.C. is one of the lowest-budget film studios of its day and its best movies were below the quality of rival Monogram Studios (and that's saying a lot!). There films are known for having rotten sets, poor scripts and second-rate acting--they were for many in the movie industry the "purgatory" of Hollywood!! As usual, this film shows all the usual earmarks of a P.R.C. production, though its stars are a tad better than usual--as Sidney Toler and John Carradine (both veterans of the low-budget Bs) were on hand to give this movie a little bit of clout--but only just a bit. That's because Toler had just finished the Charlie Chan series at Fox Studios and hadn't yet signed with Monogram to finish the series--so he was free and in need of cash. Carradine, never really an established actor but a familiar face in low-budget films added a bit of color.Sadly, despite the low budget, the story wasn't very good either. The film is set on a tropic isle, though the natives look like extras from California and have, for the most part, American accents and hairdos. However, they are supposed to be seductive dancing girls working at a dive frequented by sailors. Two of them (Toler and his partner) are responsible for "losing" some treasure on a recent cruise. The truth is that they deliberately wrecked their boat so they could later claim the treasure. Oddly, they arrive just after there is a HUGE bar fight. So, what would you expect at this time? Yep, one of them plays Beethoven on the piano in this dive(!).Two other guys (Carradine and his sometimes friend) spend most of the time imitating Popeye and Bluto, as they fight and fight for no reason in particular. Later, though, Carradine gets the idea of trying to steal Toler's treasure. My favorite part of this (because it was so bad) was the world's longest close-range gun battle. Shot after shot after shot are fired at pointblank range--talk about lousy shooting!! In the end, it's one twist after another but thankfully the action is all ended when a monsoon hits and wipes out this god-awful island.The bottom line is that the print looks lousy, the plot stinks, the acting is generally grade-Z and the special effects are really, really bad. What's to recommend this film? Nothing. So why did it earn a 10?!

This is really only fair, but it does have its moments, and it works all right as light entertainment. The story has plenty of adventure and intrigue, though it has a few too many leaps of logic as it tries to pack an awful lot into a relatively brief running time. Gale Sondergaard, John Carradine, and Sidney Toler give the cast some good leads, and they help keep things going despite some stretches of weak dialogue.The main part of the story has Carradine, as a diver, and his partner/rival (Frank Fenton) matched in a deadly battle of wits with Toler and his accomplices. Sondergaard plays the owner of a disreputable haven for seafarers, who is close to Carradine's character. The story features a couple of interesting turns, and the approaching monsoon adds some extra drama.Sondergaard gets a lot of screen time in the earlier scenes, but her character gradually fades into the background, and becomes a spectator for most of the last part. It's unfortunate, since she is easily the most accomplished performer in the cast. Carradine and Toler both give entertaining light performances, exaggerating their characters somewhat. The relationship between the two divers, with its conflicting rivalries and loyalties, could have been made a much more significant part of the movie. Fenton's screen presence isn't strong enough for him to be much of a complement to Carradine, and as a result some of their exchanges are not as sharp as they could have been.The action sequences and the sense of danger are usually effective enough. Overall, it's a fairly solid B-feature, and would probably be worth seeing for most of those who like the genre.

How to sum up this movie simply? John Carradine and Frank Fenton fight over Gale Sondergaard and over gold that Sidney (Charlie Chan) Toler and Rick Vallin have hidden. Its all set in the tropics and has murder, comedy, musical numbers, explosions, deep sea diving, fist fights, romance, and somewhere in there is the kitchen sink. I think about the only things not in this movie are aliens and tumbleweeds. Its a wild movie, so please don't ask for a clearer explanation since it would take too long.But the real question is how is it really? Its good, but not great. There's too much going on and at times it's a little too slow, which is kind of odd considering all that happens in the films 80 minutes. This is a classic "watch at 2 am movie" with lots of bad commercials and public service announcements interrupting it. The cast is good across the board. Carradine seems to be enjoying having the lead in an adventure film. Sidney Toler, forever etched in my mind as Charlie Chan is wonderfully evil as Carruthers, and a joy to see him on the other side of the law.This movie also has a shoot out used in It Came From Hollywood where two guys shot at each other, back and forth dying as they did so until the guns were empty. I thought it had been altered to seem awkward and badly done. Nope. The gunfight is here, exactly as it was seen in "...Hollywood".As I said, its good not great. What it needs is commercials to help break up the slow bits.

Had I known who the romantic leads are in this film I would have made it a point to see it years ago. How often do you get the opportunity to see Gale Sondergaard and John Carradine play characters better suited to Humprhey Bogart and Lauren Bacall? ISLE OF FORGOTTEN SINS is a thoroughly enjoyable South Seas adventure with Carradine and Sondergaard, cast completely against type, doing terrific work for low budget miracle worker Edgar G. Ulmer. Add Frank Fenton as Carradine's battling buddy, Sidney Toler as their jovial adversary, Rik Vallin as Toler's classical piano-playing second mate and Veda Ann Borg as a treacherous native girl, clever use of a puppet (!) for the deep sea diving scenes and a climactic monsoon -- what more do you need?NOTE: The running time of this film is usually listed as 82 minutes. The video print I watched (from VCI Video) ran 76 minutes, and did not appear to be missing anything major.