The Island (1980) - Turner Classic Movies

Brief Synopsis

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In a Caribbean colony that has existed for hundreds of years, ruthless pirates make their living by raiding pleasure ships. When reporter Blair Maynard goes to investigate the story about disappearing boats, he and his son Justin are captured, but the pirates spare their lives. Instead of killing th

Cast & Crew

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Michael Ritchie

Brad Sullivan

John O'leary

Bruce Mclaughlin

James Casino

Suzanne Astor

Mrs Ellen Burgess

Film Details

Also Known As

Island

MPAA Rating

Genre

Adventure

Drama

Release Date

1980

Production Company

Universal Clearances; Universal Pictures

Distribution Company

Cic Productions

Location

Dade County, Florida, USA

Technical Specs

Duration

1h 54m

Synopsis

In a Caribbean colony that has existed for hundreds of years, ruthless pirates make their living by raiding pleasure ships. When reporter Blair Maynard goes to investigate the story about disappearing boats, he and his son Justin are captured, but the pirates spare their lives. Instead of killing them, the pirates decide to make them part of their community, Blair is to write for the illiterate group and father children to offset inbreeding, and Justin is to be brainwashed and groomed to become the heir to their leader. .

Director

Michael Ritchie

Cast

Brad Sullivan

John O'leary

Bruce Mclaughlin

James Casino

Suzanne Astor

Mrs Ellen Burgess

Susan Bredhoff

Reg Evans

Steve Gladstone

David Hart

Robert Hirschfeld

Cary Hoffman

George Marshall Ruge

John Macchia

Ricky Rincon

Robert Thomas Salmi

William Schilling

Baxter--Gunsmith

Stewart Steinberg

Hiller--Maynard'S Editor

Bob Westmoreland

Charter Boat Captain

Mark Westwood

Coast Guardsman

Michael Caine

David Warner

Angela Punch-mcgregor

Frank Middlemas

Don Henderson

Jeffrey Frank

Dudley Sutton

Colin Jeavons

Zaeks Mokae

Navidad Policeman

Jimmy Casino

Crew

Carolyn Abe

Assistant Editor

Phil Adams

Bernard Bats

Sound Recording

Richard Beggs

Sound Rerecording

Peter Benchley

Source Material (From Novel)

Peter Benchley

Mark Berger

Sound Rerecording

Jay Boekelheide

David Brown

Fletcher Bryant

Tom Bullock

Sound Editor Supervisor

Chris Carreras

2nd Assistant Director

Jimmy Casino

Dave Cass

David S Cass

Mike Cassidy

Gary Chasen

Production Assistant

Michel Cheyko

1st Assistant Director

Erik Cord

Bill Couch

Robert De Vestel

Vince Deadrick

Henri Decae

Director Of Photography

Chris Doyle

Susan Dukow

Al Ebner

Dean Engelhardt

Eugene Finley

Sound Editor Supervisor

George Fisher

Vivien Hillgrove Gilliam

Ted Grossman

Stunt Coordinator

Richard A Harris

Orwin Harvey

Dale Hennesy

Production Designer

Bob Herron

Robert Herron

Larry Holt

John Hudkins

Walter Huse

John M Johnson

Hubie Kerns Jr.

Rick Kline

Sound Rerecording

Bobbe P Kurtz

Clay Lacy

Fred M. Lerner

Alan Levine

Unit Production Manager

Dennis Madalone

William James Madden

Jack Marino

Jack M Marino

Donald O Mitchell

Sound Rerecording

Robert M Moore

Costume Supervisor

Ennio Morricone

Music; Music Director

William M Nicholson

Sound Rerecording

Paquita Nunez

John Nutt

Grant Page

David Parker

Sound Recording

Victor Paul

Ray Pratte

Technical Advisor (Coast Guard)

Neil Roach

Sea Photography

Ernest Robinson

George Robotham

John Robotham

Yves Rodallec

Camera Operator

Philip Romano

Thomas Rosales Jr.

Ann Roth

Costume Designer

Jose Antonio Sanchez

Silvio Scarano

Costume Supervisor

Marshall Schlom

Script Supervisor

Swede Sorenson

Sound Recording

Paul Stader

Richard Strauss

Brian Stuart-young

Production Assistant

Bill Taylor

Matte Photography

Michael Tronick

Dianne Wager

Art Direction Assistant

Peter Waller

2nd Assistant Director

Bud Walls

Cliff Wenger

Special Effects

Bob Westmoreland

Albert Whitlock

Special Visual Effects

Jerry Wills

Richard D. Zanuck

Manfred Zendar

Technical Advisor

Film Details

Also Known As

Island

MPAA Rating

Genre

Adventure

Drama

Release Date

1980

Production Company

Universal Clearances; Universal Pictures

Distribution Company

Cic Productions

Location

Dade County, Florida, USA

Technical Specs

Duration

1h 54m

Articles

TCM Remembers - Michael Ritchie

May 22, 2001

Director Michael Ritchie died April 16th at the age of 62. A Wisconsin native, Ritchie studied at Harvard before succumbing to the attractions of the theatre. He started working in television during the 1960s where he directed episodes of The Big Valley and The Man from UNCLE among others. He moved into feature films with Downhill Racer (1969) at star Robert Redford's invitation and later directed Redford again in The Candidate (1972). The latter is a classic look at American political life that hasn't lost any of its power or insights over the years. This was the start of Ritchie's most productive period when he made several films that were both popular and critically acclaimed. You can find his sly wit and sense of critical drama in Smile (1975), The Bad News Bears (1976) and Semi-Tough (1978). By the 1980s, though, Ritchie's films focused less on social criticism and more on stars. The Survivors (1983) with Robin Williams remains under-rated but Ritchie-directed vehicles for Eddie Murphy (1986's The Golden Child), Bette Midler (1980's Divine Madness) and Chevy Chase (two Fletch films) didn't quite achieve their potential. Some of the old Ritchie spark and intelligence appeared in the made-for-cable The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom (1993) which earned him a Directors Guild Award. One of his final films was the long-awaited screen adaptation of The Fantasticks (1995) which partly brought Ritchie back to his theatrical roots.

ANN SOTHERN: 1909 - 2001
Actress Ann Sothern passed away on March 15th at the age of 89. Her film career spanned sixty years and included a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for The Whales of August (1987) and several Emmy nominations for her roles in the TV shows Private Secretary (1953) and The Ann Sothern Show (1958). Sothern was born as Harriette Lake in North Dakota. She made her first film appearance in 1927 in small roles (so small, in fact, that some sources omit any films before 1929) before deciding to work on Broadway instead. Shortly afterwards she signed with Columbia Pictures where studio head Harry Cohn insisted she change her name because there were already too many actors with the last name of Lake. So "Ann" came from her mother's name Annette and "Sothern" from Shakespearean actor E.H. Sothern. For most of the 1930s she appeared in light comedies working with Eddie Cantor, Maurice Chevalier, Mickey Rooney and Fredric March. However, it wasn't until she switched to MGM (after a brief period with RKO) and made the film Maisie (1939) that Sothern hit pay dirt. It proved enormously popular and led to a series of nine more films through 1947 when she moved into dramas and musicals. During the 50s, Sothern made a mark with her TV series but returned to mostly second tier movies in the 1960s and 1970s. Finally she earned an Oscar nomination for her work in 1987's The Whales of August (in which, incidentally, her daughter Tisha Sterling played her at an earlier age). Turner Classic Movies plans to host a retrospective film tribute to her in July. Check back for details in June.

Tcm Remembers - Michael Ritchie

TCM Remembers - Michael Ritchie

Director Michael Ritchie died April 16th at the age of 62. A Wisconsin native, Ritchie studied at Harvard before succumbing to the attractions of the theatre. He started working in television during the 1960s where he directed episodes of The Big Valley and The Man from UNCLE among others. He moved into feature films with Downhill Racer (1969) at star Robert Redford's invitation and later directed Redford again in The Candidate (1972). The latter is a classic look at American political life that hasn't lost any of its power or insights over the years. This was the start of Ritchie's most productive period when he made several films that were both popular and critically acclaimed. You can find his sly wit and sense of critical drama in Smile (1975), The Bad News Bears (1976) and Semi-Tough (1978). By the 1980s, though, Ritchie's films focused less on social criticism and more on stars. The Survivors (1983) with Robin Williams remains under-rated but Ritchie-directed vehicles for Eddie Murphy (1986's The Golden Child), Bette Midler (1980's Divine Madness) and Chevy Chase (two Fletch films) didn't quite achieve their potential. Some of the old Ritchie spark and intelligence appeared in the made-for-cable The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom (1993) which earned him a Directors Guild Award. One of his final films was the long-awaited screen adaptation of The Fantasticks (1995) which partly brought Ritchie back to his theatrical roots. ANN SOTHERN: 1909 - 2001 Actress Ann Sothern passed away on March 15th at the age of 89. Her film career spanned sixty years and included a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for The Whales of August (1987) and several Emmy nominations for her roles in the TV shows Private Secretary (1953) and The Ann Sothern Show (1958). Sothern was born as Harriette Lake in North Dakota. She made her first film appearance in 1927 in small roles (so small, in fact, that some sources omit any films before 1929) before deciding to work on Broadway instead. Shortly afterwards she signed with Columbia Pictures where studio head Harry Cohn insisted she change her name because there were already too many actors with the last name of Lake. So "Ann" came from her mother's name Annette and "Sothern" from Shakespearean actor E.H. Sothern. For most of the 1930s she appeared in light comedies working with Eddie Cantor, Maurice Chevalier, Mickey Rooney and Fredric March. However, it wasn't until she switched to MGM (after a brief period with RKO) and made the film Maisie (1939) that Sothern hit pay dirt. It proved enormously popular and led to a series of nine more films through 1947 when she moved into dramas and musicals. During the 50s, Sothern made a mark with her TV series but returned to mostly second tier movies in the 1960s and 1970s. Finally she earned an Oscar nomination for her work in 1987's The Whales of August (in which, incidentally, her daughter Tisha Sterling played her at an earlier age). Turner Classic Movies plans to host a retrospective film tribute to her in July. Check back for details in June.

Quotes

Trivia

Miscellaneous Notes

Released in United States Summer June 13, 1980

Released in United States Summer June 13, 1980

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