Steineded
How sad is this?
Acensbart
Excellent but underrated film
Onlinewsma
Absolutely Brilliant!
Dana
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
JohnHowardReid
Lionel Atwill (Alec Ritchfield), Jerome Cowan (John Kavanaugh), George Zucco (Leo Grainger), Sharon Douglas (Gail), Veda Ann Borg (Sylvia Jordan), Ian Keith (Doc Lake), Jacqueline de Wit (Emiline Bronson), John Whitney (Jeff Kingsley), George Lloyd (the butler), Eddie Parker (fight double for Ian Keith).Director: TERRY O. MORSE. Screenplay: Pierre Gendron. Based on the 1937 play "Angel Island" by Bernadine Angus. Photography: Ira H. Morgan. Film editor: George McGuire. Art director: Paul Palmentola. Music: Karl Hajos. Assistant director: William A. Calihan, junior. Sound recording: William R. Fox. Associate producer: Terry O. Morse. Producer: Leon Fromkess.Copyright 15 February 1945 by Producers Releasing Corporation. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release: 15 February 1945. Australian release through Hoyts Theatres Ltd: 12 September 1946. 7 reels. 6,429 feet. 72 minutes. SYNOPSIS: Deranged man invites his enemies for a weekend on his fog- bound island.NOTES: The stage play opened on Broadway at the National on 20 October 1937 and ran a miserable 21 performances. George Abbott produced and directed a great cast: Arlene Francis, Lea Penman, Betty Field, Carroll Ashburn, Doro Merande, Edith Van Cleve, Clyde Fillmore, Eric Wollencott, Louise Larabee and Joyce Arling. COMMENT: Another killer-let-loose-on-an-inescapable-island entry, "Fog Island: is an atmospherically directed and photographed grand guignol piece, well acted by all concerned (particularly Ian Keith), but somewhat too contrived for my taste. Production values are well above the usual P.R.C. level.
drystyx
This is supposed to be an atmospheric creepy house, murder mystery.It begins as such with the usual group of unsavory suspects, and a hero and heroine.It just completely deteriorates from there.The clichés are worse than tired. They are absolutely dull. Instead of giving us mystery, the constant shifts and creeps in the shadows just give you a headache.It's hard to care about anything here. The hero and heroine are okay. The others aren't motivated in the least. They just bore us. They sound like they had to write the lines as they went along, and didn't care what they wrote.It's the dullness that drags this down. The atmosphere should have been there, but it isn't. It is horribly written and directed, and this from someone who likes old atmospheric movies. This is an ordeal, and not to be seen without aspirin.May cure your Insomnia, but that's it.
Spondonman
First time of watching: entertaining low budget spooky house mystery with Zucco and Atwill at their eye-popping peaks. Terrible print - the negative must look transparent, so I would definitely recommend switching the lights off (or a cinema) for optimum viewing.It's a PRC stagey mix of And Then There Were None (in this case, Two) and The Cat And The Canary, with a few extra twists, but with only nine characters. The butler was a short-lived oddball however, quickly dispatched with gusto from the plot to the cynical amusement of Zucco. To my cynical amusement it's at that moment that Zucco is reminded that he "blew his top" when he was in prison - not hard to imagine!The male romantic lead was even more wooden, impetuous and prescient than the rest of the cast (Jerome Cowan was wasted yet again), but overall I enjoyed the film, nice atmosphere when the print allowed and an almost believable nasty-revenge storyline.
Michael O'Keefe
Nothing like an old, low-budget mystery. Leo Granger(George Zucco)has been released from prison after being framed for embezzlement by his once trusted associates. He decides to invite them to his hideaway haven on Fog Island intimating it is a chance to even the score for his stay in prison as well as the murder of his wife. In the name of justice due, he hopes his guests will accept the invitation in hopes of sharing in the embezzled funds. But instead he has devised a death-trap for those that ill advised and urged some of his past bad behavior. The fog lends to an atmosphere of mystery. Plus the fact that the guests don't exactly trust each other let alone their host causes a degree of suspense. The abrupt climax serves justice. Veteran villain Lionel Atwill leads the supporting cast of Jerome Cowan, Sharon Douglas, Veda Ann Borg and John Whitney.
