Frank Tuttle directed Island of Los Women, a B-level castaways drama, whose plot borrows from Shakespeare’s The Tempest as well as sic-fi pictures like Forbidden Planet.
Mark Bradley (Jeff Richards) is a radio commentator flying with pilot Joe Walker (John Smith) across the South Pacific to a conference in Australia.
A forced landing on the beach of a small island inhabited by Dr. Paul Lujan (Alan Napier) leads to encountering the latter’s three young and beautiful daughters, Venus (Venetia Stevenson), Urana (Diane Jergens), and Mercuria (June Blair), who have never met any man.
Lujan, hostile, orders the intruders to leave his island, but one of their aircraft’s engines is so damaged, it needs immediate repairs.
Meantime he grudgingly introduces Bradley and Walker to his trio of young, beautiful daughters,
The two men discover that Lujan was an atomic scientist who fled the civilized society with his family due to fears of nuclear energy.
The two older daughters fall in love with the strangers and try to help them, while the third, who’s jealous, tries to foil their plans.
When Bradley mentions that he plans a radio broadcast about Lujan and his island, Dr. schemes ways to keep the men and his daughters on the island.
The rights to Prescott Chaplin’s original story were bought by Jaguar, Alan Ladd’s production company, which had a deal with Warner, and Ray Buffum wrote the script.
As usual John Seitz’s great cinematography elevates the black-and white film above the writing’s shortcoming.
Running time: 71 minutes.
Release: May 10, 1959.
