Hero's Island


1h 34m 1962
Hero's Island

Brief Synopsis

Indentured servants colonizing a Carolina island fight off rival settlers with the help of a notorious pirate.

Film Details

Also Known As
The Land We Love
Genre
Adventure
Action
Drama
Release Date
Sep 1962
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Daystar Productions; Portland Productions
Distribution Company
United Artists
Country
United States

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 34m
Color
Color (Technicolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
2.35 : 1

Synopsis

In 1718 two former indentured servants, Devon and Thomas Mainwaring, and their children, Cullen and Jafar, settle on an island off the Carolina coast willed to them by their late master. No sooner have they established camp, than Nicholas and Enoch Gates, two brothers from an illiterate fishing family, try to drive them off the island. Although Enoch kills her husband, Devon is determined to stay. The next day Jacob Webber, a castaway, is washed ashore. Overcoming her suspicions, the young widow takes in the stranger, who reveals himself to be a pirate. Although Webber refuses at first to help fight the fishermen, he routs them all with his cutlass when the entire Gates family returns and attacks him. Nicholas Gates joins the group when he is thrown overboard for rebelling against Kingstree, a slave trader whom Enoch has hired to fight the settlers. Kingstree identifies Webber as Bluebeard's former sailmaster, and the battle becomes a personal one in which Webber kills the cutthroat. Nicholas, fascinated by Devon's ability to read, remains with her and the children to help settle the island as Webber returns to his life of piracy.

Film Details

Also Known As
The Land We Love
Genre
Adventure
Action
Drama
Release Date
Sep 1962
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Daystar Productions; Portland Productions
Distribution Company
United Artists
Country
United States

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 34m
Color
Color (Technicolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
2.35 : 1

Articles

Hero's Island


James Mason took on a rare swashbuckling role for Hero's Island, a 1962 labor of love, co-produced with director-writer Leslie Stevens. He stars as a seaman washed ashore on Bull Island in the colonial Carolinas who throws in his lot and gives his heart to a widow fighting to protect her family. The story gave him the opportunity for solid dramatic work, a stunning climactic sword fight against mercenary Neville Brand and a surprising last-reel revelation about his character. The film also gave him the chance to work with his son, Morgan, who would go on to an adult career as a producer.

Mason was at the height of his stardom in 1962, appearing the same year as Humbert Humbert in the hit adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita for director Stanley Kubrick. The high would not last for long. Two years after making Hero's Island, he would divorce his wife of 23 years, Pamela Mason. The mountainous alimony and child support payments she won would send him into a whirlwind of quickie films just to keep up with his financial obligations. Despite a few solid productions, it would be years before he re-established his position as one of the world's most respected actors.

Hero's Island was the second directing credit for Stevens, a playwright who had broken into films adapting his hit comedy The Marriage-Go-Round to the screen as a vehicle for David Niven and Susan Hayward. It also marked his second try at turning his wife, Kate Manx, into a film star. Previously, he had directed her to strong critical reaction in the adult drama Private Property. Although she was a beautiful, naturally gifted actress, their turbulent marriage didn't last. They divorced shortly thereafter, and she committed suicide in 1964.

Despite the misfortunes of the film's stars, Hero's Island also proved a benefit to other members of the cast and crew. Child actor Darby Hinton, cast as one of Manx's three children, would move to small-screen stardom as Fess Parker's son on Daniel Boone before launching an adult career as a soap opera star (Days of Our Lives). Veteran cinematographer Ted McCord, whose beautiful photography of the film's Catalina locations won the picture's strongest reviews, had already built a solid career with such beautifully shot films as Johnny Belinda (1948) and the innovative East of Eden (1955). He would follow Hero's Island with the box-office blockbuster The Sound of Music (1965). And composer Dominic Frontiere would continue his association with Stevens by scoring the cult classic TV series The Outer Limits and the recently rediscovered horror film Incubus (1965), the only film ever shot entirely in Esperanto.

Producer: Leslie Stevens, James Mason
Director & Screenplay: Leslie Stevens
Cinematography: Ted D. McCord
Music: Dominic Frontiere
Film Editing: Richard K. Brockway
Costume Design: Reeder P. Boss, Marjorie Wahl
Cast: James Mason (Jacob Webber), Kate Manx (Devon Mainwaring), Neville Brand (Kingstree), Rip Torn (Nicholas), Warren Oates (Wayte), Harry Dean Stanton (Dixey), Morgan Mason (Cullen), Darby Hinton (Jafar). C-95m.

by Frank Miller
Hero's Island

Hero's Island

James Mason took on a rare swashbuckling role for Hero's Island, a 1962 labor of love, co-produced with director-writer Leslie Stevens. He stars as a seaman washed ashore on Bull Island in the colonial Carolinas who throws in his lot and gives his heart to a widow fighting to protect her family. The story gave him the opportunity for solid dramatic work, a stunning climactic sword fight against mercenary Neville Brand and a surprising last-reel revelation about his character. The film also gave him the chance to work with his son, Morgan, who would go on to an adult career as a producer. Mason was at the height of his stardom in 1962, appearing the same year as Humbert Humbert in the hit adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita for director Stanley Kubrick. The high would not last for long. Two years after making Hero's Island, he would divorce his wife of 23 years, Pamela Mason. The mountainous alimony and child support payments she won would send him into a whirlwind of quickie films just to keep up with his financial obligations. Despite a few solid productions, it would be years before he re-established his position as one of the world's most respected actors. Hero's Island was the second directing credit for Stevens, a playwright who had broken into films adapting his hit comedy The Marriage-Go-Round to the screen as a vehicle for David Niven and Susan Hayward. It also marked his second try at turning his wife, Kate Manx, into a film star. Previously, he had directed her to strong critical reaction in the adult drama Private Property. Although she was a beautiful, naturally gifted actress, their turbulent marriage didn't last. They divorced shortly thereafter, and she committed suicide in 1964. Despite the misfortunes of the film's stars, Hero's Island also proved a benefit to other members of the cast and crew. Child actor Darby Hinton, cast as one of Manx's three children, would move to small-screen stardom as Fess Parker's son on Daniel Boone before launching an adult career as a soap opera star (Days of Our Lives). Veteran cinematographer Ted McCord, whose beautiful photography of the film's Catalina locations won the picture's strongest reviews, had already built a solid career with such beautifully shot films as Johnny Belinda (1948) and the innovative East of Eden (1955). He would follow Hero's Island with the box-office blockbuster The Sound of Music (1965). And composer Dominic Frontiere would continue his association with Stevens by scoring the cult classic TV series The Outer Limits and the recently rediscovered horror film Incubus (1965), the only film ever shot entirely in Esperanto. Producer: Leslie Stevens, James Mason Director & Screenplay: Leslie Stevens Cinematography: Ted D. McCord Music: Dominic Frontiere Film Editing: Richard K. Brockway Costume Design: Reeder P. Boss, Marjorie Wahl Cast: James Mason (Jacob Webber), Kate Manx (Devon Mainwaring), Neville Brand (Kingstree), Rip Torn (Nicholas), Warren Oates (Wayte), Harry Dean Stanton (Dixey), Morgan Mason (Cullen), Darby Hinton (Jafar). C-95m. by Frank Miller

Quotes

Trivia

Notes

Location scenes filmed on Santa Catalina island. Also known as The Land We Love.

Miscellaneous Notes

Released in United States 1962

Released in United States 1962