Il vagabondo dell'isola

This is a pretty broad comedy with some fun performances by Laughton, Lanchester and Newton. The plot's rather thin and really relies on the great character work by all involved.

Even though the characters seem to transform far too quickly for my tastes, you almost don't even care because it's so enjoyable to see.

Frankly, I'd almost recommend this film just to see Charles Laughton's classic facial expressions alone.

Obviously The African Queen owes much to The Beachcomber and while the former is the superior film, I'd recommend this to any fan of Laughton, Lanchester and 1930's romantic comedies.

In reading all of the reviews scant attention seems to be given to Robert Newton.Maybe because this performance is typical of those he gave in the 1930s and 1940s before Long John silver got hold of him.The irony is that in real life he was far more like the character played by Charles Laughton.Indeed in just about any biography of any actor of that period ,sooner or later tipsily in to view comes Robert Newton.Unfortunately drink made him much the worse for wear,making producers unwilling to take the chance and ultimately shortening his life.I do wish somebody would write a biography of this fine actor who gives a quiet even underplayed performance in this film.

Charles Laughton was a short, fat, and ugly man. He was the complete anthesis of what you would expect a lead actor to be. However, despite these considerable handicaps, his tremendous acting ability and amazing range of emotions catapulted him to the top of the acting chain in the 1930s. His wife, Elsa Lancaster, was also a very fine actress, as evidenced by her superior work in The Bride of Frankenstein, an underrated film. Add these two giants to the unparalleled writing talent of Somerset Maugham, and you have an unbeatable combination for a classic comedy in The Beachcomber. No one ever did colonials better than Maugham. His incisive writing captured the true essence of missionary work and its irritating side-effects on native cultures. All of his characters have great depth. This is the best of all beachcomber films. It is not to be missed. Also billed as The Vessel of Wrath.

It is hard to watch this movie without noticing its similarities, intentional or not to the so-called American classic "The African Queen". I will have to say I enjoyed this movie more. The director whose credits state this as his only movie directs this 1930s movie as it were made in the sixties and seventies when the motif of camera movement became essential. Hand-held cameras are used to good effect. Charles Laughton who is the best film actor of the 20th Century shines again as he totally immerses himself in the part of the scalawag drunk. Elsa Lanchester, a woman with perfect demeanor and grace and wearing absolutely no make up shines as the woman whose aim is to tame the natives and tame the irascible Laughton. Good support from the cast round up this romantic drama. Bogart won an Oscar for doing a role very similar to this one, but Laughton is better. Catch it if you can. It's nice, smartly written, subtle and an English treat.

Maybe not one of W. Somerset Maugham's more complex stories, but it still gives us a chance to watch Robert Newton, Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester give us a bit of the reverse "Sadie Thompson". It's the unlikable "Ginger Ted" (Laughton) who manages to upset the rather puritanical "Martha" (Lanchester) and her minister-brother "Owen" (Tyrone Guthrie). She demands that local magistrate (Newton) throw the book at him after his latest drunken outburst, but the wily old administrator sees an opportunity to ensure peace breaks out by managing to have the pair stranded on a remote island amidst his Indonesian archipelago - and maybe the two can get past their initial mutual loathing and find some common ground? It's a bit too long, even at ninety minutes, and much of it struggles against a background of ropey production and poor editing, but there are some funs scenes between an on-form and perfectly plausible Laughton and a Lanchester whose character you would cross at your peril - even if you were completely sozzled. It does rather peddle the superiority of the Christian faith as against those more pagan traditions held by the natives, but in it's aggressive piousness lies some of it's best humour - especially now it's eighty-odd years later and we can use new eyes to poke fun at it's daftness. Newton's accent isn't the best, but fans of characterful cinema might enjoy these three - and Erich Pommer - having a bit of fun in the sun (though clearly nowhere near the actual South China Sea!).