Isle of the Dead (film)
| Isle of the Dead | |
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theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Mark Robson |
| Produced by | Val Lewton |
| Written by |
Ardel Wray Val Lewton (uncredited) Josef Mischel (uncredited) |
| Starring |
Boris Karloff Ellen Drew |
| Music by | Leigh Harline |
| Cinematography | Jack MacKenzie |
| Edited by | Lyle Boyer |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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72 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $246,000 |
| Box office | $383,000 |
Isle of the Dead (1945) is a horror film made for RKO Radio Pictures by producer Val Lewton. 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 and directed by Mark Robson. It was the fourth of five pictures Robson directed for Lewton and starred Boris Karloff. Karloff would work on two other pictures with Lewton, although the Isle of the Dead came out of second.
An onscreen text warns of the superstitious belief in a vorvolaka, a malevolent force in human form. The film proper begins during the Balkan Wars of 1912. While his troops are burying their dead, General Pherides (Karloff) and American reporter Oliver Davis (Marc Cramer) visit the Isle of the Dead to pay their respects to the General's long-dead wife. They discover the crypt despoiled; hearing a woman singing on the supposedly uninhabited island, they set out to find her. They also find retired Swiss archeologist Dr. Aubrecht (Jason Robards, Sr.), his Greek housekeeper Madame Kyra (Helen Thimig), British diplomat Mr. St. Aubyn (Alan Napier) and his pale and sickly wife (Katherine Emery), her youthful Greek companion Thea (Ellen Drew), and English tinsmith Andrew Robbins (Skelton Knaggs).
Aubrecht apologizes for his part 15 years before in inspiring local peasants to rob graves for valuable Greek artifacts. Kyra whispers to Pherides that a vorvolaka, in the guise of the red and rosy Thea, is in their midst. Pherides laughs at such superstition and accepts Aubrecht's invitation to spend the night as his guest.
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Wikipedia