The Camp on Blood Island
Encyclopedia
The Camp on Blood Island is a 1958 British World War II film, directed by Val Guest
for Hammer Film Productions
and starring Carl Möhner
, André Morrel, Edward Underdown
and Walter Fitzgerald
.
The film is set in a Japanese prisoner of war camp in British Malaya
and deals with the brutal, sadistic treatment of Allied prisoners by their captors. On its release the film was promoted with the tag line "Jap War Crimes Exposed!", alongside a quote from Lord Russell of Liverpool
, "We may forgive, but we must never forget", and an image of a Japanese soldier wielding a samurai sword. From its powerful opening sequence of a man being forced to dig his own grave before being shot to death, with an intertitle
stating "this is not just a story - it is based on brutal truth", The Camp on Blood Island is noted for a depiction of human cruelty and brutality which was unusually graphic for a film of its time, and received some contemporary allegations of going beyond the bounds of the acceptable and necessary into gratuitous sensationalism.
It was followed by a sequel The Secret of Blood Island
in 1964.
draws to an end, the commandant of the Blood Island prisoner-of-war camp has let it be known that should Japan surrender, he will order the massacre of the entire captive population. When the prisoners hear through underground sources that Japan has indeed surrendered, they mobilise themselves to try to prevent the news reaching the commandant. Colonel Lambert (Morell), the authoritarian self-appointed leader of the prisoners, deems that they must sabotage communications between the camp and the outside world, and arm themselves in however makeshift a way in readiness for a final showdown.
Lambert's unilateral assumption of military authority is not universally welcomed, as other prisoners including Piet van Elst (Möhner), diplomat Cyril Beattie (Fitzgerald) and priest Paul Anjou (Michael Goodliffe
) chafe against his quasi-dictatorial personality, obstinacy and refusal to listen to any views other than his own. Lambert is forced continually to justify his at times apparently illogical and counter-productive decisions. Matters are not helped by the growing suspicion that the camp harbours a collaborator in its midst.
Van Elst is given the task of chief saboteur, while Anjou passes messages and instructions to the captives via coded sermons. When the endgame becomes inevitable, the prisoners rise up against their captors in a bloody insurrection, feeling that they have nothing left to lose and the survival of a few is better than the alternative. When Allied relief planes finally arrive they find a mere handful of survivors on either side.
Val Guest
Val Guest was a British film director, best known for his science-fiction films for Hammer Film Productions in the 1950s, but who also enjoyed a long, varied and active career in the film industry from the early 1930s up until the early 1980s.-Early life and career:He was born Valmond Maurice...
for Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later...
and starring Carl Möhner
Carl Möhner
Carl Möhner was an Austrian film actor. He appeared in over 40 films between 1949 and 1976. He was born in Vienna, Austria, and died in McAllen, Texas from Parkinson's disease.-Selected filmography:...
, André Morrel, Edward Underdown
Edward Underdown
Edward Underdown was an english theatre, cinema and television actor. He was born in London.Early theatre credits include: Words and Music, Nymph Errant, Stop Press and Streamline ....
and Walter Fitzgerald
Walter Fitzgerald
Walter Fitzgerald was an English character actor.Born Walter Fitzgerald Bond in Keyham, Devon. Married 1st Rosalie Constance Grey in 1924.1s .2nd Angela Kirk in 1938. 3 sons 1 daughter....
.
The film is set in a Japanese prisoner of war camp in British Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
and deals with the brutal, sadistic treatment of Allied prisoners by their captors. On its release the film was promoted with the tag line "Jap War Crimes Exposed!", alongside a quote from Lord Russell of Liverpool
Edward Russell, 2nd Baron Russell of Liverpool
Edward Frederick Langley Russell, 2nd Baron Russell of Liverpool C.B.E., M.C. , was a British soldier, lawyer and historian....
, "We may forgive, but we must never forget", and an image of a Japanese soldier wielding a samurai sword. From its powerful opening sequence of a man being forced to dig his own grave before being shot to death, with an intertitle
Intertitle
In motion pictures, an intertitle is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of the photographed action, at various points, generally to convey character dialogue, or descriptive narrative material related to, but not necessarily covered by, the material photographed.Intertitles...
stating "this is not just a story - it is based on brutal truth", The Camp on Blood Island is noted for a depiction of human cruelty and brutality which was unusually graphic for a film of its time, and received some contemporary allegations of going beyond the bounds of the acceptable and necessary into gratuitous sensationalism.
It was followed by a sequel The Secret of Blood Island
The Secret of Blood Island
The Secret of Blood Island is a 1964 British war film directed by Quentin Lawrence and starring Jack Hedley, Barbara Shelley and Patrick Wymark. British Prisoners of War help a wounded female agent to escape the Japanese during the Second World War...
in 1964.
Plot
As the Pacific WarPacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
draws to an end, the commandant of the Blood Island prisoner-of-war camp has let it be known that should Japan surrender, he will order the massacre of the entire captive population. When the prisoners hear through underground sources that Japan has indeed surrendered, they mobilise themselves to try to prevent the news reaching the commandant. Colonel Lambert (Morell), the authoritarian self-appointed leader of the prisoners, deems that they must sabotage communications between the camp and the outside world, and arm themselves in however makeshift a way in readiness for a final showdown.
Lambert's unilateral assumption of military authority is not universally welcomed, as other prisoners including Piet van Elst (Möhner), diplomat Cyril Beattie (Fitzgerald) and priest Paul Anjou (Michael Goodliffe
Michael Goodliffe
Lawrence Michael Andrew Goodliffe was an English actor best known for playing suave roles such as doctors, lawyers and army officers. He was also sometimes cast in working class parts....
) chafe against his quasi-dictatorial personality, obstinacy and refusal to listen to any views other than his own. Lambert is forced continually to justify his at times apparently illogical and counter-productive decisions. Matters are not helped by the growing suspicion that the camp harbours a collaborator in its midst.
Van Elst is given the task of chief saboteur, while Anjou passes messages and instructions to the captives via coded sermons. When the endgame becomes inevitable, the prisoners rise up against their captors in a bloody insurrection, feeling that they have nothing left to lose and the survival of a few is better than the alternative. When Allied relief planes finally arrive they find a mere handful of survivors on either side.
Cast
- Carl MöhnerCarl MöhnerCarl Möhner was an Austrian film actor. He appeared in over 40 films between 1949 and 1976. He was born in Vienna, Austria, and died in McAllen, Texas from Parkinson's disease.-Selected filmography:...
as Piet van Elst - André MorellAndré MorellAndré Morell was a British actor. He appeared frequently in theatre, film and on television from the 1930s to the 1970s...
as Col. Lambert - Edward UnderdownEdward UnderdownEdward Underdown was an english theatre, cinema and television actor. He was born in London.Early theatre credits include: Words and Music, Nymph Errant, Stop Press and Streamline ....
as Major Dawes - Walter FitzgeraldWalter FitzgeraldWalter Fitzgerald was an English character actor.Born Walter Fitzgerald Bond in Keyham, Devon. Married 1st Rosalie Constance Grey in 1924.1s .2nd Angela Kirk in 1938. 3 sons 1 daughter....
as Cyril Beattie - Phil Brown as Lt. Peter Bellamy
- Barbara ShelleyBarbara ShelleyBarbara Shelley is an English film and television actress.She is now retired, but was at her busiest in the late 1950s and 1960s when she became Hammer Horror's number one female star, with The Gorgon , Dracula, Prince of Darkness , Rasputin, the Mad Monk , andQuatermass and the Pit among her...
as Kate Keiller - Michael GoodliffeMichael GoodliffeLawrence Michael Andrew Goodliffe was an English actor best known for playing suave roles such as doctors, lawyers and army officers. He was also sometimes cast in working class parts....
as Father Paul Anjou - Michael GwynnMichael GwynnMichael Gwynn was an English actor. He attended Mayfield College near Mayfield, East Sussex. During the Second World War he served in East Africa as a major and was adjutant to the 2nd Battalion of the King's African Rifles.He is perhaps best remembered in contemporary culture as the shyster Lord...
as Tom Shields - Ronald RaddRonald RaddRonald Radd was a British television actor.Radd starred in some 60 different TV shows between 1955 and 1976 including The Avengers, Danger Man, and Z-Cars...
as Commander Yamamitsu - Marne MaitlandMarne MaitlandJames Marne Maitland was an Anglo-Indian character actor in British films and television programmes.He made his film debut in Cairo Road , and went onto be type cast as villains from the Far East, particularly for Hammer Film Productions...
as Captain Sakamura - Richard WordsworthRichard WordsworthThe English character actor Richard Wordsworth was born on 19 January 1915 and died on 21 November 1993. He was the great-great-grandson of the poet William Wordsworth....
as Dr. Robert Keiller - Mary MerrallMary MerrallMary Merrall , born Elsie Lloyd, was an English actress whose career of over 60 years encompassed stage, film and television work.-Stage career:...
as Helen Beattie - Wolfe MorrisWolfe MorrisWolfe Morris was a British film and television actor.He played character roles on stage, television and in feature films from the 1950s until the 1990s. He made his film debut in Ill Met by Moonlight. His grandparents were from Kiev and escaped the Russian pogroms, arriving in London in about 1890....
as Interpreter - Michael RipperMichael RipperMichael Ripper was an English character actor born in Portsmouth.He began his film career in quota quickies in the 1930s and until the late 1950s was virtually unknown; he was seldom credited. He played one of the two murderers in Richard III. Ripper became a mainstay in Hammer Film Productions...
as Japanese Driver - Edwin RichfieldEdwin RichfieldEdwin Richfield was an English actor.His film credits include: X the Unknown, Quatermass 2, The Camp on Blood Island, The Face of Fu Manchu and Quatermass and the Pit....
as Sergeant-Major - Geoffrey BayldonGeoffrey BayldonGeoffrey Bayldon is a British actor. After playing roles in many dramas including Shakespeare, he became known for portraying the title role of the children's series Catweazle , after turning down the opportunity to play both the First and Second Doctors in the long-running BBC science fiction...
as Foster - Lee MontagueLee MontagueLee Montague is an English actor noted for his roles on film and television, usually playing tough guys.Film credits include: Moulin Rouge, The Camp on Blood Island, The Savage Innocents, Billy Budd, The Secret of Blood Island, Deadlier Than the Male, The Legacy and Brother Sun, Sister...
as Japanese Officer - Jan HoldenJan HoldenValerie Jeanne Wilkinson was an English actress who was known as Jan Holden.Jan Holden was a stage actress known for her performances in light comedy and also for her appearances in several popular television series during the 1950s and 1960s. She was an elegant woman notable for her arresting...
as Nurse
External links
- The Camp on Blood Island at BritMovie