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Isle of the Dead (film)
Encyclopedia
Isle of the Dead is one of producer Val Lewton
's horror films made for RKO Radio Pictures. The movie had a script inspired by the painting Isle of the Dead
by Arnold Böcklin
, which appears behind the title credits, though the film was originally titled "Camilla" during production. (Another of Lewton's films, I Walked With a Zombie
, has the painting hung in the main room of the movie.) It was written by frequent Lewton collaborator Ardel Wray; directed by Mark Robson
, the fourth of five pictures he directed for Lewton; and starred Boris Karloff
, the first of three pictures he made with Lewton (although the second released).
in 1912–1913, when a plague forces a quarantine
on the island's visitors. As they die one by one, a young woman is accused of being a vorvolakas, a sort of vampire.
. The film had a troubled production, and the central female character of the original script (named "Catherine") was deleted entirely from the tale.
's somber score makes use of another work inspired by Böcklin's painting, Sergei Rachmaninoff's tone poem, "Isle of the Dead
". Harline borrows themes and copies their orchestration, taking about as much as he can without violating copyright. Oddly, he makes no use of the public-domain "Dies Irae
".
with Mighty Joe Young, and made its television debut in 1959.
Director Martin Scorsese
placed Isle of the Dead on his list of the 11 scariest horror films of all time.
Val Lewton
Val Lewton was an American film producer and screenwriter, best known for a string of low-budget horror films he produced for RKO Pictures in the 1940s.-Early life:...
's horror films made for RKO Radio Pictures. The movie had a script inspired by the painting Isle of the Dead
Isle of the Dead (painting)
Isle of the Dead is the best known painting of Swiss Symbolist artist Arnold Böcklin . Prints of the work were very popular in central Europe in the early 20th century — Vladimir Nabokov observed that they were to be "found in every Berlin home." Freud, Lenin, and Clemenceau all had prints of it...
by Arnold Böcklin
Arnold Böcklin
Arnold Böcklin was a Swiss symbolist painter.-Life and art:He was born at Basel. His father, Christian Frederick Böcklin , was descended from an old family of Schaffhausen, and engaged in the silk trade. His mother, Ursula Lippe, was a native of the same city...
, which appears behind the title credits, though the film was originally titled "Camilla" during production. (Another of Lewton's films, I Walked With a Zombie
I Walked with a Zombie
I Walked with a Zombie is a 1943 horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur. It was the second horror film from producer Val Lewton for RKO Pictures; the first was the very successful Cat People, also directed by Tourneur...
, has the painting hung in the main room of the movie.) It was written by frequent Lewton collaborator Ardel Wray; directed by Mark Robson
Mark Robson
Mark Robson was a Canadian-born film editor, film director and producer in Hollywood.-Career:Born in Montreal, Quebec, he moved to the United States at a young age. He studied at the University of California, Los Angeles then found work in the prop department at 20th Century Fox studios...
, the fourth of five pictures he directed for Lewton; and starred Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
, the first of three pictures he made with Lewton (although the second released).
Plot
The story is set on a Greek isle during the First Balkan WarFirst Balkan War
The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, pitted the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The combined armies of the Balkan states overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success...
in 1912–1913, when a plague forces a quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
on the island's visitors. As they die one by one, a young woman is accused of being a vorvolakas, a sort of vampire.
Production
Filming began for about two weeks in July 1944 until production was suspended when Karloff required a back operation. It was completed in December 1944. In the interim, after Karloff had recovered from the surgery but before the cast of Isle of the Dead could be reassembled, he and Lewton made The Body SnatcherThe Body Snatcher (film)
The Body Snatcher is a 1945 horror film directed by Robert Wise based on the short story The Body Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson. The film's producer Val Lewton helped adapt the story for the screen, writing under the pen name of "Carlos Keith". The film was marketed with the tagline The...
. The film had a troubled production, and the central female character of the original script (named "Catherine") was deleted entirely from the tale.
Score
Leigh HarlineLeigh Harline
Leigh Adrian Harline was a film composer.-Career:Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, he worked for various radio stations before joining the Walt Disney studios in 1932 as arranger and scorer...
's somber score makes use of another work inspired by Böcklin's painting, Sergei Rachmaninoff's tone poem, "Isle of the Dead
Isle of the Dead (Rachmaninoff)
Isle of the Dead, Op. 29, is a symphonic poem composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff. Rachmaninoff was inspired by Arnold Böcklin's painting, Isle of the Dead, which he saw in Paris in 1907. He concluded the composition while staying in Dresden in 1908...
". Harline borrows themes and copies their orchestration, taking about as much as he can without violating copyright. Oddly, he makes no use of the public-domain "Dies Irae
Dies Irae
Dies Irae is a thirteenth century Latin hymn thought to be written by Thomas of Celano . It is a medieval Latin poem characterized by its accentual stress and its rhymed lines. The metre is trochaic...
".
Reception
The film premiered in New York City on 7 September 1945. The cost of Isle of the Dead at completion was $246,000, the highest yet for a Lewton horror film, but with domestic rentals of $266,000, and foreign rentals of $117,000, it made only $13,000 in profit for RKO. It was re-issued in 1953 on a double billDouble feature
The double feature, also known as a double bill, was a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatre managers would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown.The double feature, also known as...
with Mighty Joe Young, and made its television debut in 1959.
Director Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
placed Isle of the Dead on his list of the 11 scariest horror films of all time.
Cast
- Boris KarloffBoris KarloffWilliam Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
as Gen. Nikolas Pherides - Ellen DrewEllen DrewEllen Drew was an American film actress.Born Esther Loretta Ray in Kansas City, Missouri, Drew worked various jobs and won a number of beauty contests before becoming an actress...
as Thea - Marc Cramer as Oliver Davis
- Katherine Emery as Mrs. Mary St. Aubyn
- Helen Thimig as Madame Kyra
- Alan NapierAlan NapierAlan William Napier-Clavering was an English actor, best known for portraying Alfred Pennyworth in the 1960s live-action Batman television series.-Early life and career:...
as St. Aubyn - Jason Robards Sr. as Albrecht
- Ernst DeutschErnst DeutschErnst Deutsch aka Ernest Dorian was an Austrian actor. In 1916 he played the protagonist in the world première of Walter Hasenclever's Expressionist play The Son in Dresden to great acclaim...
as Dr. Drossos - Sherry Hall as Col. Kobestes
- Erick Hanson as Officer
- Skelton Knaggs as Andrew Robbins
External links
- Isle of the Dead Movie The Karloff/Lewton film: images, Boecklin paintings, & history.
- Toteninsel.net: an encyclopedia in progress dedicated to A. Böcklin's Isle of the Dead: copies, parodies, inspirations.