Miss Robin Crusoe

For the past year or so, Turner Classic Movies has been digging up several forgotten obscurities that probably haven't seen the light of day since their original release dates. Such an oddity is MISS ROBIN CRUSOE, a 1954 Fox pickup shown in a pristine, beautifully Pathecolored print this morning at 6 AM. The two other reviews have gleefully pointed out this unpretentious programmer's shortcomings. In defense, I'd like to list its merits. For one, while one critic griped that the movie was obviously shot on a studio soundstage, this is untrue. Several scenes were filmed on location with the stars cavorting in front of spectacular Pacific Ocean vistas(no process shots here!). Then-newcomers Amanda Blake and George Nader could easily have sleepwalked thru the proceedings but act with such sincerity and conviction that it's no wonder both of them quickly went on to stardom: Ms. Blake on TV's legendary 20-year series "Gunsmoke", while Nader was quickly signed to a Universal-International contract (and starred in such 'A' features as "Unguarded Moment", "Away All Boats", "Four Girls in Town", "The Second Greatest Sex" and the unjustly overlooked superior second-feature "Man Afraid"--I've always been grateful to this gentleman for responding to my fan letter, at the age of 8, with a personally autographed 5x7 photo and a hand-written letter of appreciation!). Feminists could write a fascinating thesis on this gender-reversed take on Dafoe's classic novel. (The censors must have been comatose when, towards the conclusion, Ms. Blake and Nader engage in an oceanside coupling that, for pure eroticism, outdoes the similar-but-much-celebrated clinch in "From Here to Eternity" and did I detect a sapphic undertone in the scene where the female Friday gazes at and touches the sleeping Ms. Blake's body?) All of this packed into an action-packed 73-minute running time, scored by the then-unknown Elmer Bernstein. I'm by no means recommending that you go out of your way to track down "Miss Robin Crusoe" but the next time (if ever) it turns up on TCM, you might give it a try. It's certainly far more fun than the Peter O'Toole/Richard Roundtree "revisionist" version of Dafoe's tale, the godawful "Man Friday"!

Gender-switch version of Robinson Crusoe, with the roles of Crusoe and Friday played by women. Amanda Blake, of Gunsmoke fame, plays the lead. Rosalind Hayes plays Friday. Because this is the '50s and the main character is a woman, a man (George Nader) has to be introduced into the story. She has to have a beefcake love interest. I'm not even kidding. Once he shows up the entire point of the story becomes less about survival and more about romance. The whole thing is unconvincingly shot on sets and in Palos Verdes, California. They're clearly never on a tropical island. It is reasonably well-photographed, though. The best part about it is the Elmer Bernstein score, which is far better than a cheapie like this deserves. I'm a fan of castaway stories. I've read Dafoe's novel and seen several film adaptations of it. This isn't one of my favorites. It's worth watching for a B movie but don't expect much. Oh and how about our heroine's musket? Does she ever need to reload that thing or is it magic?

The classic Robinson Crusoe story is given a makeover with a role reversal in this cheaply shot B film.

It's Amanda Blake who went to sea in male drag that's the survivor of a shiowreck and stranded in a tropic island off Brazil in the 17th century. And as in the Daniel Defoe classic she rescues Rosalind Hayes, a tribal woman slated to be a sacridice to their Deity. She's less than thrilled with the honor.

Blake and Hayes live well on the island and there's more than a hint of lesbianism in the relationship. It all changes when hunky George Nader of the British navy also gets stranded.

This film should have a place of honor in the gay cinema. Sadly it looks like it was a dental floss budget that was available.

It's 1659. Miss Robin Crusoe (Amanda Blake) gets stranded on a tropical island after losing her family when her ship sinks in a storm. She manages to fight off a lecherous crewman and pushes him off a cliff. She befriends a monkey and builds a tree top home. She rescues a native girl from being sacrificed by her tribe. She gives her the name Friday. The two women live comfortably in isolation until another shipwreck survivor Jonathan washes up onshore.

The first thing I noticed with this female castaway is that she has plenty of makeup but no fire. It's telling that the fire isn't shown until the man makes one. Here's the deal. I think people back in the day panned it for changing the gender of the role. There is definitely a lot of man-hating female empowerment which would be off-putting back then. It also whiplashes back which is just as off=putting. It struggles with its own gender agenda. For me, the bigger problem is the dated colonial views of the source material. In the end, it's better than expected but nothing to write home about. They should have gone full Tom Hanks' Cast Away but that's asking too much for this B-movie. At least, there are some scenes of nature and animals and wave lapping shores. The acting is somewhat bad and the writing is worst. It's interesting for pushing the gender envelope but it folds up that envelope just as quickly. The romantic melodrama is a matter of bad writing and chaotic story telling. It leaves Robin in a bad light. In the end, this is an interesting attempt but ultimately, a failure. It's also noteworthy that non of the writers or director is a woman. It's noticeable with the words coming out her mouth. The dialogue is generally clunky. I'm a sucker for Survivor but this has too many problems.

I watched it as a curiosity because Amanda Blake was in it. I imagine when this film came out it would have been the second film of a double feature. The producers didn't waste many dollars on things like script and such.