Isle of the Dead (film)
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| Isle of the Dead | |
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 Poster for Isle of the Dead |
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| Directed by | Mark Robson |
| Produced by | Val Lewton |
| Written by | Ardel Wray Val Lewton (uncredited) Josef Mischel (uncredited) |
| Starring | Boris Karloff Ellen Drew |
| Music by | Leigh Harline |
| Cinematography | Jack MacKenzie |
| Editing by | Lyle Boyer |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 1 September 1945 |
| Running time | 72 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
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| IMDb profile | |
Isle of the Dead (1945) is one of producer Val Lewton's horror films made for RKO Radio Pictures. The movie had a script inspired by the painting Isle of the Dead by Arnold Böcklin, which appears behind the title credits, though the film was originally titled "Camilla" during production. (Another of Lewton's films, I Walked With a Zombie, has the painting hung in the main room of the movie.) It was written by frequent Lewton collaborator Ardel Wray; directed by Mark Robson, the fourth of five pictures he directed for Lewton; and starred Boris Karloff, the first of three pictures he made with Lewton (although the second released).
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[edit] Plot
The story is set on a Greek isle during the First Balkan War in 1912–1913, when a plague forces a quarantine on the island's visitors. As they die one by one, a young woman is accused of being a vorvolaka, a sort of vampire.
[edit] Production
Filming began for about two weeks in July 1944 until production was suspended when Karloff required a back operation. It was completed in December 1944. In the interim, after Karloff had recovered from the surgery but before the cast of Isle of the Dead could be reassembled, he and Lewton made The Body Snatcher. The film had a troubled production, and the central female character of the original script (named "Catherine") was deleted entirely from the tale.
[edit] Reception
The film premiered in New York City on September 7, 1945. The cost of Isle of the Dead at completion was $246,000, the highest yet for a Lewton horror film, but with domestic rentals of $266,000, and foreign rentals of $117,000, it made only $13,000 in profit for RKO. It was re-issued in 1953 on a double bill with Mighty Joe Young, and made its television debut in 1959.
[edit] Cast
- Boris Karloff - Gen. Nikolas Pherides
- Ellen Drew - Thea
- Marc Cramer - Oliver Davis
- Katherine Emery - Mrs. Mary St. Aubyn
- Helen Thimig - Madame Kyra (as Helene Thimig)
- Alan Napier - St. Aubyn
- Jason Robards Sr. - Albrecht (as Jason Robards)
- Ernst Deutsch - Dr. Drossos (as Ernst Dorian)
- Sherry Hall - Col. Kobestes
- Erick Hanson - Officer
- Skelton Knaggs - Andrew Robbins
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Isle of the Dead at the Internet Movie Database
- Isle of the Dead Movie The Karloff/Lewton film: images, Boecklin paintings, & history.
- Toteninsel.net: an encyclopedia in progress dedicated to A. Böcklin's Isle of the Dead: copies, parodies, inspirations.
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