Sinners in Paradise *** (1938, Madge Evans, John Boles, Bruce Cabot, Marion Martin, Gene Lockhart) – Classic Movie Review 12,044

Director James Whale’s American 1938 South Seas adventure film Sinners in Paradise stars Madge Evans, John Boles, Bruce Cabot, Marion Martin and Gene Lockhart.

A passenger aircraft crashes in mid-Pacific and some survivors of the plane accident reach land and join forces when stranded on a mostly uninhabited tropical island, where they are joined by the two sole occupants, an American jailbird-on-the-lam Jim Taylor (John Boles) and his Chinese servant Ping (Willie Fung).

Jim Taylor is wanted for murder he finds himself drawn to attractive young nurse Anne Wesson (Madge Evans), who is running away from her husband.

Sinners in Paradise is an interesting twist on the disaster-movie theme, but it is still rather reliant on the characters’ revelations concerning their pasts, significantly more than the adventure action.

The admirable Whale (The Old Dark House, Frankenstein) directs in a peculiarly slack fashion, but, with the combination of talent involved, he could hardly miss, and the superior acting ensures a lively hour spent on Fantasy Island.

The film entered the public domain in the US in 1966 because the claimants did not renew its copyright registration in the 28th year after publication.

The cast are Madge Evans as Anne Wesson, John Boles as Jim Taylor, Bruce Cabot as Robert Malone aka The Torpedo, Marion Martin as Iris Compton, Gene Lockhart as Sen. Corey, Charlotte Wynters as Thelma Chase, Nana Bryant as Mrs. Franklin Sydney, Milburn Stone as Honeyman, Don ‘Red’ Barry [Donald Barry] as Jessup, Morgan Conway as Harrison Brand, and Willie Fung as Ping.

Madge Evans married playwright Sidney Kingsley on 25 July 1939, left Hollywood and moved to this home in New Jersey.

The films of James Whale: Journey’s End (1930), Hell’s Angels (1930), Waterloo Bridge (1931), Frankenstein (1931), The Impatient Maiden (1932), The Old Dark House (1932), The Kiss Before the Mirror (1933), The Invisible Man (1933), By Candlelight (1933), One More River (1934), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Remember Last Night? (1935), Show Boat (1936), The Road Back (1937), The Great Garrick (1937), Sinners in Paradise (1938), Wives Under Suspicion (1938), Port of Seven Seas (1938), The Man in the Iron Mask (1939), Green Hell (1940) and They Dare Not Love (1941).

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 12,044

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