The Prisoner of Shark Island
| The Prisoner of Shark Island | |
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film poster by Joseph A. Maturo
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| Directed by | John Ford |
| Produced by |
Nunnally Johnson Darryl F. Zanuck |
| Written by | Nunnally Johnson |
| Starring |
Warner Baxter Gloria Stuart Frank McGlynn Francis McDonald |
| Music by | R.H. Bassett Hugo Friedhofer |
| Cinematography | Bert Glennon |
| Edited by | Jack Murray |
| Distributed by | Twentieth Century Fox |
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Release date
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Running time
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96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Prisoner of Shark Island is a 1936 film loosely based on the life of Samuel Mudd, produced by Darryl F. Zanuck, directed by John Ford, and starring Warner Baxter and Gloria Stuart. Twentieth Century Pictures, before they merged with Fox, purchased the rights to the book The Life of Dr. Mudd by Nettie Mudd Monroe, doctor's daughter. The film's credits, however, make no reference to Monroe or her book. Modern sources state that Darryl F. Zanuck, Twentieth Century's vice-president in charge of production, got the idea to make the film after he read an article in Time magazine about the prison camp for political prisoners on the Dry Tortugas island.
A few short hours after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln (Frank McGlynn Sr.), Dr. Samuel Mudd (Warner Baxter) gives treatment to a man with a broken leg who shows up at his door. Mudd does not know that the president has been assassinated and the man who he is treating is John Wilkes Booth (Francis McDonald). Mudd is arrested for being an accessory in the assassination and is sent to prison on the Dry Tortugas, described as in the West Indies and referred to in the film as "America's own Devil's Island".
After a period of ill treatment due to his notoriety, and an unsuccessful escape attempt, his skills as a doctor are requested by the Commandant of the prison. The island has been in the grip of a yellow fever epidemic and the official prison doctor has fallen ill. Dr. Mudd takes charge with the blessing of the Commandant and the cooperation of the soldier guards, and the yellow jack epidemic subsides.
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