''Isle of Escape'' is a 1930 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

film produced and released by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

The film stars Monte Blue and

Myrna Loy Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. Trained as a dancer, Loy devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. ...

and is set in the South Seas. Blue had been playing man-stranded-on-island roles in such films as ''

White Shadows in the South Seas ''White Shadows in the South Seas'' is a 1928 American silent film adventure romance directed by W.S. Van Dyke and starring Monte Blue and Raquel Torres. It was produced by Cosmopolitan Productions in association with MGM and distributed by MGM ...

'' at MGM towards the end of the silent era and continued doing so in this early talkie.

Plot

Dave Wade, a young miner, manages to escape from some cannibals in the South Seas who have killed all of his companions. He arrives at the island of Samora with a bag of gold which he managed to save. Here he meets a brutal man named Shane and a woman named Stella, who had been forced into a secret marriage with Shane. The couple run a small hotel. Stella immediately sympathizes with Dave's plight, while Shane sets his greedy eyes on his gold. After the death of Stella's mother, Dave escapes with her to another island. Here they meet Moira, a native girl, who falls in love with Dave and desperately tries to divert his love away from Stella. Eventually, Shane discovers the whereabouts of his wife and arrives on the island.

Cast

* Monte Blue as Dave Wade *

as Moira * Betty Compson as Stella *

Noah Beery, Sr. Noah Nicholas Beery (January 17, 1882 – April 1, 1946) was an American actor who appeared in films from 1913 until his death in 1946. He was the older brother of Academy Award-winning actor Wallace Beery as well as the father of prominen ...

as Shane *

Ivan F. Simpson Ivan F. Simpson (8 February 1875 – 12 October 1951) was a Scottish film and stage actor. Life and career Simpson was born on 8 February 1875 in Glasgow, Scotland, and went as a young man to New York City, where he worked for four dec ...

as Judge *Jack Ackroyd as Hank *

Nina Quartero Nina Quartero (born Gladys Quartararo; March 17, 1908 – November 23, 1985) was an American actress whose career spanned from 1929 to 1943. Career Born in 1908 in Mount Vernon, New York, as Gladys Quartararo, she came from a close family and ...

as Loru * Duke Kahanamoku as Manua *

Nick De Ruiz Nicholas De Ruiz (February, 1871 – June 21, 1959) was an American actor. He appeared in 36 films between 1920 and 1938. He was born in Santa Barbara, California and died in Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángel ...

as Dolobe *

Rose Dione Claudine Rosalie Gras (1 January 1877 – 1 January 1936), professionally known as Rose Dione, was a French-American actress who appeared in numerous silent era and pre-code films. She appeared in more than 60 films between 1910 and 1 ...

as Ma Blackney *

Adolph Milar Adolph Milar (1895–1950) was a Swiss-born film actor. He appeared in character roles in around sixty American films from 1919 to 1945, playing characters of a variety of nationalities.Biskupski p.43 His name is sometimes written as Adolf Milar. ...

as Dutch Planter

Box office

According to Warner Bros., the film earned $224,000 domestically and $58,000 foreign.

Preservation status

''Isle of Escape'' is believed to be a

lost film A lost film is a feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing char ...

. Around 2010, a small fragment, running about forty seconds, was discovered by a private collector.''The American Film Institute Catalogue of Feature Films 1921-30'' c. 1971 by The American Film Institute

References

External links

* *
''Isle of Escape'' lobby poster

Southseascinema.org
1930 films 1930 drama films 1930 lost films American black-and-white films American drama films Films directed by Howard Bretherton Lost American films Warner Bros. films Lost drama films 1930s American films {{1930s-US-film-stub