Devil's Island

Devil's Island (1939)

*** (out of 4)

Gritty prison drama from Warner Bros. features Boris Karloff as a brain surgeon who is sent to Devil's Island, although he's innocent. Once there he sees the torture brought on by the warden and plans on doing something about it. I was really surprised by how good this one was. The film would have benefited by a longer running time and some deeper scenes but it's still highly entertaining. Karloff was the best of the horror actors in my opinion but he could sleepwalk through roles every once in a while. Here he gives one of the best performances of his career outside the role of the monster. He had a burning energy throughout the film that was a lot of fun to watch. The ending doesn't work but this would be a good selection for Vol. 2 of the Controversial Collection since this film was originally banned in France and had the French government put a ban on all Warner films for a couple years (so I read).

And also William Clemens' best movie for me. I watched several films from this obscure director and I would have never bet a dime that the great Boris Karloff would ever work with such a lousy director, more specialized in NANCY DREW DETECTIVE, THE FALCON or PHILO VANCE adventures than in real movies, such as this one. Such a plot could have been made by a Michael Curtiz, Mervyn Le Roy or Raoul Walsh. Because Boris Karloff is excellent, as usual, and precisely because of his presence, whatever the William Clemen's skills are, this short movie is worth watching. It is inspired from actual facts.

1939's "Devil's Island" started out as a typical Warners expose about the brutal mistreatment of prisoners on the French penal colony, but along the way a number of things whittled it down to an all too familiar 'B' picture with little meat left on its creaky bones. George Raft was intended to star but predictably bailed, as producer Hal Wallis hilariously put it: "he hasn't made a picture at this studio since I was a kid!" In his place was contractee Boris Karloff, preferring to do whatever assignment required rather than be paid off during Hollywood's horror ban of 1937-38, "The Walking Dead" a promising start, "West of Shanghai" and "The Invisible Menace" a bit of a comedown ("British Intelligence" finally allowed Jack L. Warner to wash his hands of the actor's services). It looks for all the world like a small scale (though impressively mounted) retread of John Ford's "The Prisoner of Shark Island," Karloff as eminent brain surgeon Dr. Charles Gaudet, summoned to treat the injury of a trusted friend wrongfully convicted of treason (his medical condition showed he had a brain tumor), shot while trying to escape. Gaudet remains behind to continue his treatment and is arrested and convicted for the same crime, sentenced to 10 years hard labor at Devil's Island, where corrupt commandant Colonel Lucien (James Stephenson) keeps an account of all the graft he accepts to increase slave labor. When a tubercular patient drops dead a riot breaks out, one guard killed by a blow to the head, and only an accident to Lucien's young daughter offering a sliver of hope if Gaudet can save her life. Madame Lucien (Nedda Harrigan) despises her husband's failure to offer clemency to Gaudet for his selfless efforts and provides for a series of bribes to help him and his small group escape by boat across the channel, but all seems lost once they encounter a slave ship bound for Devil's Island. Despite the French government being off the hook for corruption (Colonel Lucien in need of no assistance), the European nation still protested the picture's release, finally held back until the summer of 1940 though it was completed in Aug. 1938, just before Karloff traveled to Poverty Row Monogram to begin "Mr. Wong, Detective." On its own the story has been done better both before and after, the low key, one note James Stephenson no match for the fiery John Carradine's Sgt. Rankin so far as dynamism goes, leaving only Boris Karloff's sympathetic change of pace as the main reason for viewing. Like Janos Rukh in "The Invisible Ray" he sports curly hair, and again proves versatile in changing his appearance in every starring vehicle of the 30s, with or without heavy makeup, though he might have escaped such harsh punishment had he curbed his temperament. Columbia issued a similar film the following year, "Island of Doomed Men" offering Peter Lorre top billing as the chief villain, Rochelle Hudson the disloyal wife who helps bring about his downfall.

This Boris Karloff movie was very entertaining though it seemed strongly inspired by the earlier film, THE PRISONER OF SHARK ISLAND since there were so many similarities between the two movies. SHARK ISLAND is an account of the real life man, Dr. Samuel Mudd, who was sentenced to a harsh American prison in the Tortugas after he gave medical treatment to a fleeing John Wilkes Booth. Whether or not Mudd knew that Booth had just killed the President is debatable--especially since word of the assassination may not have reached Mudd's home in rural Maryland.

In much the same way, Boris Karloff plays a doctor who attends to a seriously injured man. Although Karloff knows the man was guilty, as a doctor he'd taken an oath to heal and couldn't just let the man die. As a result of his kindness, he's arrested and sent to Devil's Island, where he is abused and treated like an animal. What happens next you'll have to see for yourself, but I was very impressed by this simple film that wasn't really a horror film but a film about the human spirit and justice. Karloff, in particular, did a nice job in his role as the hapless doctor, though the script was also very good--making the viewer really care about these men in prison.

The only negative, and it's a small one, is the prologue. Because the war in Europe was just beginning, the producers wished to distance themselves from condemning this French institution and so they tacked on a nice prologue saying that this film didn't represent the French people of today. This seemed rather unnecessary, as other prison films don't have similar introductions.

Excellent vehicle for the great Boris Karloff to branch out from playing horror roles and play the hero in a drama. Karloff plays a French brain surgeon who attends to a friend shot by the police. The friend is considered an enemy of the state so Karloff is tried and convicted of treason. He's sent to the penal colony on Devil's Island, where he suffers under the brutal conditions and the corrupt commandant in charge.

Warner Bros. was no stranger to making prison dramas. They made some of the best. This may not take place in a traditional American prison or chain gang but, make no mistake about it, this has many of the familiar plot elements you expect from those types of films. It's a B picture that barely clocks in at an hour but it's well-paced with terrific acting from Boris Karloff and a solid cast backing him up. It's one of Karloff's best non-horror roles and definitely something his fans will want to see.