''Hero's Island'', also known as ''The Land We Love'', is a 1962 American

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

written and directed by

Leslie Stevens Leslie Clark Stevens IV (February 3, 1924 – April 24, 1998) was an American producer, writer, and director. He created two television series for the ABC network, '' The Outer Limits'' (1963–1965) and '' Stoney Burke'' (1962–63), and ''Sea ...

. It stars

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, three Golden Globes (winning once) and two ...

Neville Brand Lawrence Neville Brand (August 13, 1920 – April 16, 1992) was an American soldier and actor. He was known for playing villainous or antagonistic character roles in Westerns, crime dramas, and ''films noir'', and was nominated for a BAFTA A ...

, Kate Manx,

Rip Torn Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn Jr. (February 6, 1931 – July 9, 2019) was an American actor whose career spanned roughly 60 years. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing Marsh Turner in '' Cross Creek'' (1983). Tor ...

Warren Oates Warren Mercer Oates (July 5, 1928 – April 3, 1982) was an American actor best known for his performances in several films directed by Sam Peckinpah, including '' The Wild Bunch'' (1969) and ''Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia'' (1974). ...

and Brendan Dillon. It was released on September 16, 1962, by

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

. The film, set in the early 18th century, is about a poor family homesteading on a remote Carolina island, leading to encounters with seagoing vagabonds, good and bad. The film's producers used California's Santa Catalina Island, which is hillier, rockier and more arid than South Carolina or any actual part of the coastal Carolinas.

Plot

In 1718 a recently freed family of indentured workers inherits the small uninhabited

Bull Island Bull Island (), more properly North Bull Island (), is an island located in Dublin Bay in Ireland, about 5 km long and 800 m wide, lying roughly parallel to the shore off Clontarf, Dublin, Clontarf (including Dollymount), Raheny, Kilbarra ...

off the Carolina coast. The family consist of husband and wife, one son, and a second son who they bought as a baby. The local fishermen who were already using the island think they own the island and attempt to force the family to leave, during which the husband is killed. The conflict over the island escalates as more people including a castaway, a fugitive from justice, and hired heavies join each side. Not everyone is who they seem or claim to be.

Cast

as Jacob Weber *

as Kingstree *Kate Manx as Devon Mainwaring *

as Nicholas Gates *

as Wayte Giddens *Brendan Dillon as Thomas Mainwaring * Dean Stanton as Dixey Gates * Robert Sampson as Enoch Gates *

Morgan Mason Alexander Morgan Mason (born June 26, 1955) is an American film producer, actor, and political operative. He was born to actors Pamela Mason and James Mason, and he is married to singer Belinda Carlisle. Early life Mason was born June 26, 1955, ...

as Cullen *

Darby Hinton Edgar Raymond Darby Hinton (born August 19, 1957) is an American actor. His parents were actor Ed Hinton (1919–1958) and Marilyn Mau Hinton (1922–1982). Both of his sisters, Darcy and Daryn Hinton, were actresses from childhood.Everett Aake ...

as Jafar *John Hudkins as Bullock *Bobby Johnson as Pound *William Hart as Meggett

References

External links

* * 1962 films 1960s action drama films American action drama films 1960s English-language films United Artists films Films set in the 1710s Films set in North Carolina Films set on islands 1960s historical films American historical films 1962 drama films Films scored by Dominic Frontiere Films directed by Leslie Stevens 1960s American films English-language action drama films English-language historical films {{Action-drama-film-stub