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Despite looking very much like a B-film and a rush job by Warner Bros. to produce an early Bogart film, ISLE OF FURY has enough intriguing elements in the story to make it worth watching if you're a Bogart fan. Even then, had enough presence to be worthy of better projects than this.

It's filmed on a small budget with a number of fake island sets except for a few outdoor scenes but gets off to a good start with a storm at sea and the introduction of a few strange characters. One of them is DONALD WOODS, rescued by Bogart's men from a storm when his boat is torn apart.

Woods takes an instant shine to Bogart's new wife (MARGARET LINDSAY) with just a suggestion that the relationship between Bogart and Woods hints at something in their past that neither wants to talk about. The romantic angle is handled awkwardly in the script and not played with much intensity by the trio involved.

The plot thickens and various incidents lead to a conclusion with but one surprising twist. Overall, the feeling is that the ending is more than a little abrupt without enough explanation about the characters or their motivations.

Strictly a surface telling of a story based on some original work by Somerset Maugham. None of the supporting roles are particularly well handled.

...this is your film. I'm giving it four stars just based on the fact that the three leads - Humphrey Bogart, Margaret Lindsay, and Donald Woods managed to carry this thing as well as they did. The film opens on a wedding between Val Stevens (Humphrey Bogart) and Lucille Gordon (Margaret Lindsay), with Lucille having all the enthusiasm of someone who is using her life savings as a down payment on buying a house that she just doesn't like. The way WB has Bogart made up will make you realize why she feels that way if you don't just laugh out loud - bad perm AND bad mustache with bad perm. Donald Woods is the mysterious handsome stranger that shipwrecks on Val and Lucille's tropical island and almost interrupts the ceremony. When Woods' character regains consciousness after being rescued, he instantly begins giving reluctant bride Lucille bedroom eyes. If you think you know where this thing is headed from the beginning you'd probably be right, so I'm going to stop right there and let you watch and find out what happens. Just don't nod off and miss the hilarious scene of Bogart wrestling with a fake octopus that looks like it is right out of Ed Wood's Bride of the Monster.

I've seen Bogart in some odd films given his later film persona - the rather experimental "Midnight" and the early talkie "Bad Sister" - but this is the only truly bad film in which I've seen him, and by bad I mean dull and predictable.

Isle of Fury (1936)

** (out of 4)

A rather bland love triangle set in the South Seas as Val (Humphrey Bogart) and Lucille (Margaret Lindsay) are married during a rough storm and minutes later there's a boat crash and Eric (Donald Woods) washes ashore. Soon all three become friends but Lucille begins to have extra feelings Eric as she starts to realize that she'll never fulfill her dreams on this island. This here is a remake of the 1932 film THE NARROW CORNER, a film I haven't seen so I can't compare the two. With that out of the way, this film here makes for some slight entertainment but in the end pretty much everyone can skip it unless you're fans of the cast. The biggest problem is, once again, the screenplay which was clearly not given too much attention, which I guess can be understood since this was meant to be the second film on a double bill. The screenplay never really knows what it wants to do because one moment we're on an adventure and then the next we're tied up in a love triangle that never really seems to work either because more attention is spent on Bogart and Woods instead of Woods and Lindsay. The film is certainly confused in what it wants to do but like many "B" movies it's at least smart enough to throw everything in and just hope something sticks. This film throws in a real crazy sequence where Bogart dives down to get some pearls and is attacked by a large octopus and soon enough Woods is underwater fighting it as well. I'm not sure what it is but no matter what movie you're watching it's always a plus when a killer octopus shows up. As far as the performances go I wasn't too thrilled with Lindsay who seemed to be sleepwalking throughout the film but I did enjoy Bogart and Woods. I thought these two actors really kept the film moving as they had a nice chemistry together and you have to love Bogie's mustache. The ending is pretty weak but the film only runs 62-minutes and makes for a decent time killer, although only fans of the stars should really seek it out.

They must have filmed half of the script and just called it a wrap. Poor writing and acting abound, and the mustache is worse than the octopus! Skip this one unless you really love Bogart.

This is a remake of "The Narrow Corner" and I have seen several variations on the film (such as "Tiger Shark" and "Danger Lights"). So, from the onset I found the material very familiar and very predictable. In fact, beginning at the very first scenes featuring the wedding and the shipwreck, I already knew exactly what would be happening later in the movie! The only unusual thing about this B-movie was seeing Humphrey Bogart as the poor husband--and with a very cheesy fake mustache. Why he was given such an uninteresting and thankless role is simply because he was not yet a star. By 1936, he'd been in quite a few films but almost exclusively in bit parts and walk-ons. Though he'd been in Hollywood for about five years, he really hadn't yet made a name for himself.

As I said before, the film starts with a wedding on a tiny island in the Pacific. When a boat crashes in the reef, in comes a more handsome and interesting man (Donald Woods) and the new wife is captivated. However, the husband is a sap and he doesn't realize how serious this is and befriends Woods--to his regret.

Overall, this is a very simple B-movie with little (other than the novelty of seeing Bogart in a crappy film) to positively distinguish it. And, on the negative side, there is a silly rubber octopus that just needs to be seen to believed. Not horrible but certainly not very good either.