''The Blue Lagoon'' is a 1949 British

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can be ...

romance and

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, ani ...

directed and co-produced by

Frank Launder Frank Launder (28 January 1906 – 23 February 1997) was a British writer, film director and producer, who made more than 40 films, many of them in collaboration with Sidney Gilliat. Early life and career He was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire ...

(with

Sidney Gilliat Sidney Gilliat (15 February 1908 – 31 May 1994) was an English film director, producer and writer. He was the son of George Gilliat, editor of the ''Evening Standard'' from 1928 to 1933. Sidney was born in the district of Edgeley in Sto ...

) and starring

Jean Simmons Jean Merilyn Simmons, (31 January 1929 – 22 January 2010) was a British actress and singer. One of J. Arthur Rank's "well-spoken young starlets", she appeared predominantly in films, beginning with those made in Great Britain during and aft ...

and

Donald Houston Donald Daniel Houston (6 November 1923 – 13 October 1991) was a Welsh actor whose first two films—'' The Blue Lagoon'' (1949) with Jean Simmons, and '' A Run for Your Money'' (1949) with Alec Guinness—were highly successful. Later in ...

. The screenplay was adapted by John Baines, Michael Hogan, and Frank Launder from the 1908 novel '' The Blue Lagoon'' by Henry De Vere Stacpoole. The original music score was composed by Clifton Parker and the cinematography was by

Geoffrey Unsworth Geoffrey Gilyard Unsworth, OBE, BSC (26 May 1914 – 28 October 1978) was a British cinematographer who worked on nearly 90 feature films spanning over more than 40 years. He is best known for his work on films such as Stanley Kubrick's '' 2 ...

. The film tells the story of two young children shipwrecked on a tropical island paradise in the

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. Emotional feelings and physical changes arise as they grow to maturity and fall in love. The film has major thematic similarities to the

Biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of ...

account about

Adam and Eve Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...

Plot

In 1841, 8-year-old Emmeline Foster and 10-year-old Michael Reynolds, two British children, are the survivors of a

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...

in the South Pacific. After days afloat, they are

marooned Marooned may refer to: * Marooning, the intentional act of abandoning someone in an uninhabited area Film and television * ''Marooned'' (1933 film), a British drama film * ''Marooned'' (1969 film), an American science-fiction film * ''Marooned ...

on a lush tropical island in the company of kindly old sailor Paddy Button. Eventually, Paddy dies in a drunken binge, leaving Emmeline and Michael alone. They survive solely on their resourcefulness and the bounty of their remote paradise. Eight years later, in 1849, the now-adult couple live together in the island paradise, fish, and collect "beads" from the shellfish in the surrounding lagoon. One day, a ship arrives carrying Doctor Murdoch and James Carter, two British men, who are intimated to have fled as criminals from civilization. Surprised to find the couple on the island, Doctor Murdoch soon realizes that Michael collects valuable pearls without knowing their true worth. While Murdoch attempts to trick Michael into getting him a bounty of pearls, Carter tries to kidnap Emmeline and escape. Murdoch and Carter kill each other on the boat, and Michael and Emmeline vow to never attempt to leave the island again. They marry, and during a tropical storm, a child, Paddy, is born. In 1852, Emmeline is reminded of the outside world and wants to leave the island. She fears for their child if Michael and she should die. Michael gives in to her pleading and they pack a small boat and leave the island.

Becalmed Becalmed may refer to: *'' En rade'' or ''Becalmed'', an 1887 novel by Joris-Karl Huysmans *"Becalmed", a song from the Brian Eno album ''Another Green World ''Another Green World'' is the third studio album by English musician Brian Eno (cre ...

in mid-ocean, they succumb to exposure. They are found by a British ship, but the film leaves their fate ambiguous, showing only that Paddy remains alive in the small boat.

Cast

as Emmaline Foster *

as Michael Reynolds * Susan Stranks as Emmaline (younger) * Peter Rudolph Jones as Michael (younger) * Noel Purcell as Paddy Button * James Hayter as Dr. Murdock *

Cyril Cusack Cyril James Cusack (26 November 1910 – 7 October 1993) was an Irish stage and screen actor with a career that spanned more than 70 years. During his lifetime, he was considered one of Ireland’s finest thespians, and was renowned for his in ...

as James Carter * Nora Nicholson as Mrs. Stannard * Maurice Denham as Ship's Captain *

Philip Stainton Philip Stainton (9 April 1908 – 1 August 1961) was an English actor. Stainton appeared in several Ealing comedies and major international movies. He specialized in playing friendly or exasperated uniformed policemen, but also appeared in ...

as Mr. Ansty * Patrick Barr as Second Mate * Lyn Evans as Trotter * Russell Waters as Craggs *

John Boxer John "Johnny" Boxer is an Australian television and film actor and commercial voice-over best known for his role as Bobo Gigliotti in ''Pizza''. Early life He grew up in Belmore, New South Wales and attended Belmore Boys High School, where he ex ...

as Nick Corbett * Bill Raymond as Marsden

Production history

The film was an adaptation of a novel that had been filmed in 1923. However, it was the first notable adaptation.

Herbert Wilcox Herbert Sydney Wilcox CBE (19 April 1890 – 15 May 1977) was a British film producer and director. He was one of the most successful British filmmakers from the 1920s to the 1950s. He is best known for the films he made with his third wif ...

bought the rights to the novel in 1935 and announced he would make it as part of a slate of films. It was going to be shot in color in Honolulu. He did not make the film, though, and sold the rights to

Gainsborough Pictures Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, north London. Gainsborough Studios was active between 1924 and 1951. The com ...

at the recommendation of Frank Launder, who always admired the novel. Gainsborough announced the film in 1938 as part of a slate of 10 films. The stars were to be

Michael Redgrave Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave CBE (20 March 1908 – 21 March 1985) was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author. He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''Mourning Becomes Elec ...

and

Margaret Lockwood Margaret Mary Day Lockwood, CBE (15 September 1916 – 15 July 1990), was an English actress. One of Britain's most popular film stars of the 1930s and 1940s, her film appearances included ''The Lady Vanishes'' (1938), ''Night Train to Munich' ...

, who had just appeared in Gainsborough's '' The Lady Vanishes''; Will Fyffe was to co-star. In 1939, it was announced Gainsborough would make the film as a co-production with

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

and that Lockwood would co-star with Richard Greene, under contract to Fox. Plans to make the film were postponed due to the war. The project was reactivated after the war and announced in 1946 with Frank Launder attached to direct. Extensive location searches were undertaken before deciding to make the movie in Fiji. Plans to make the film were postponed due to Britain's currency difficulties, but eventually plans were reactivated. The evil traders were borrowed from the second sequel to the source novel for this film and are not part of the original novel.

Casting

was attached to the project at an early stage, due to her success in ''

Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. It depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip (Great Expectations), Pip (the book is a ''bildungsroman''; a coming-of-age story). It ...

'' (1946). Donald Houston was selected as the male lead over 5,000 applicants, 100 of whom were screen-tested.

Filming

The film was shot on location in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consis ...

, Yasawa Islands, and at

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...

Iver Heath Iver is a large civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. In addition to the central clustered village, the parish includes the residential neighbourhoods of Iver Heath and Richings Park. Geography, transport and economy Part of the 43-square- ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...

, England. In December, a light plane carrying

Leslie Gilliat Leslie Gilliat (29 May 191713 July 2013) was a British film producer and production manager. He was the younger brother of director Sidney Gilliat, with whom he worked on a number of films for British Lion Films.Babington p.11 Selected filmogra ...

, the producer and brother of

, crashed into a river near Suva. Both Gilliat and the pilot escaped unharmed. Simmons left England in November, spent some time in Australia, and then travelled to Fiji. Some doubt arose that she would be allowed into Fiji, as she was only 18 and the Fijian colonial regime was contemplating a ban on people under 19 into the country as a precaution against polio being introduced. Huston and Simmons narrowly escaped injury in Fiji when their car overturned. The bulk of filming in Fiji took place on the Yasawa Islands. Storms caused shooting to take three months.

Reception

''The Blue Lagoon'' was the seventh-most popular film at the British box office in 1949. According to ''Kinematograph Weekly'', the 'biggest winner' at the box office in 1949 Britain was ''

The Third Man ''The Third Man'' is a 1949 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Set in postwar Vienna, the film centres on American Holly Martins (Cotten ...

'' with "runners up" being '' Johnny Belinda'', ''

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (1939) is a short story by James Thurber. The most famous of Thurber's stories, it first appeared in ''The New Yorker'' on March 18, 1939, and was first collected in his book '' My World and Welcome to It'' ( Ha ...

'', '' The Paleface'', ''

Scott of the Antarctic Captain Robert Falcon Scott, , (6 June 1868 – c. 29 March 1912) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–1904 and the ill-fated ''Terra Nov ...

'', ''The Blue Lagoon'', ''

Maytime in Mayfair ''Maytime in Mayfair'' is a 1949 British musical comedy film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Michael Wilding, Nicholas Phipps, and Tom Walls. It was a follow up to ''Spring in Park Lane''. The film was one of the most popula ...

'', '' Easter Parade'', '' Red River'', and '' You Can't Sleep Here''. It made a profit of £40,300. Most of the film's earnings came from abroad.

Other versions and sequel

* The novel was adapted into a motion picture by a Hollywood studio (

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

) for the first time in a version that was released in 1980 starring

Brooke Shields Brooke Christa Shields (born May 31, 1965) is an American actress and model. She was initially a child model and gained critical acclaim at age 12 for her leading role in Louis Malle's film '' Pretty Baby'' (1978). She continued to model into ...

and

Christopher Atkins Christopher Atkins Bomann (born February 21, 1961) is an American actor and businessman, perhaps best known for his debut in the 1980 film '' The Blue Lagoon'' and playing Peter Richards in ''Dallas'' (1983–1984). Early life Christopher Atki ...

. The updated version, directed by Randal Kleiser, included nudity and sexual content, although not as much as the book. According to Kleiser himself, it was the book and not the 1949 film that inspired his version of the story. That version was followed in 1991 by the sequel ''

Return to the Blue Lagoon ''Return to the Blue Lagoon'' is a 1991 American South Seas romantic adventure film directed and produced by William A. Graham and starring Milla Jovovich and Brian Krause. The film is a sequel to '' The Blue Lagoon'' (1980). The screenplay b ...

'', starring

Milla Jovovich Milica Bogdanovna Jovovich; sr-Latn, Milica Bogdanovna Jovović; russian: Милица Богдановна Йовович; uk, Милиця Богданoвна Йовович ( ; born December 17, 1975), known professionally as Milla Jovo ...

and Brian Krause. Although the sequel bears a strong similarity to the 1980 film, it bears little resemblance to Stacpoole's second novel, '' The Garden of God''. The pearl-greedy traders do not appear in Stacpoole's original novel. However, in Stacpoole's third novel, ''

The Gates of Morning ''The Gates of Morning'' is a romance novel by Henry De Vere Stacpoole, first published in 1925. It is the third and final novel of the ''Blue Lagoon'' trilogy which began with '' The Blue Lagoon'' (1908) and continued with '' The Garden of God' ...

'', a pair of sailors attack the people of a nearby island for pearls after seeing a woman wearing a double pearl hair ornament, as Emmaline does in the 1949 film. * A "contemporary remake" of ''The Blue Lagoon'' was made for television in 2012. Called '' Blue Lagoon: The Awakening'', it depicts two contemporary teenagers (played by

Indiana Evans Indiana Rose Evans (born 27 July 1990) is an Australian actress. She is known for her roles in ''Home and Away'' as Matilda Hunter, '' H2O: Just Add Water'' as Bella Hartley, and '' Blue Lagoon: The Awakening'' as Emmaline Robinson. Early lif ...

(Emmaline Robinson) and

Brenton Thwaites Brenton Thwaites (born 10 August 1989) is an Australian actor. Beginning his career in his home country in 2011, he had a starring role on the series ''Slide'' and later appeared on the soap opera ''Home and Away''. Since moving to the United S ...

(Dean McCullen). The male lead from the 1980 film,

, appears in this film as one of the teachers on the shipborne field trip where Emma and Dean are lost at sea and end up on an island.

References

External links

* * * *
Review of film
at ''Variety'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Blue Lagoon (1949 film), The 1949 films 1940s adventure drama films 1949 romantic drama films British adventure films British romantic drama films Films about children Films about survivors of seafaring accidents or incidents Films based on British novels Films based on romance novels Films based on works by Henry De Vere Stacpoole Films directed by Frank Launder Films scored by Clifton Parker Films set in Oceania Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films shot in Fiji Romantic period films Films with screenplays by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat Universal Pictures films Films set in the 1840s Films set in 1841 Films set in 1849 Films set in the 1850s Films set in 1852 Films set in the Victorian era Films set on uninhabited islands Juvenile sexuality in films 1940s British films