Devil's Island

1939

Devil's Island

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38%
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Audience Score

User Ratings: 12

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Average Rating: N/A
Reviews Count: 0
Fresh: 0
Rotten: 0

Average Rating: 3.1/5

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Movie Info

Veteran movie heavy Boris Karloff plays a sympathetic role in Devil's Island. Karloff portrays a humanitarian physician, arrested for treating the wounds of a treasonous fugitive. Sent to the Devil's Island penal colony, Dr. Karloff runs afoul of sadistic commandant James Stephenson, who seems obsessed by the guillotine (an execution sequence is one of the film's longest scenes). Stephenson's wife Nedda Harrigan, fed up with her husband's cruelties, aids Karloff in turning the tables on the commandant. Participating in an escape, Karloff makes his way to freedom and clears his name. Devil's Island runs a scant 60 minutes, due to editing demands made by the French consulate in Washington, who felt that the film was detrimental to Franco-American relations.

Rating:

NR
Genre:

Drama
Directed By:

William Clemens
Written By:

Kenneth Gamet, Don Ryan
In Theaters:

Jan 7, 1939 limited
Runtime:

62 minutes
Studio:

Warner Bros.

Cast

Boris Karloff
as Dr. Charles Gaudet

James Stephenson
as Colonel Armand Lucien

Nedda Harrigan
as Madame Helene Lucien

Adia Kuznetzoff
as Pierre Leroux

Rolla Gourvitch
as Colette

Will Stanton
as Bobo

Edward Keane
as Dr. Duval

Robert Warwick
as Demontre

Pedro de Cordoba
as Marcal

Tom Wilson
as Emil

John Harmon
as Andre

Richard Bond
as Georges

Al Bridge

Earl Gunn
as Leon

Sidney Bracey
as Soupy

George Lloyd
as Dogface

Charles Richman
as Gov. Beaufort

Stuart Holmes
as Gustav Le Brun

Leonard Mudie
as Advocate General

Egon Brecher
as Debriac

Frank Reicher
as President of Assize Court

John Hamilton
as Ship's Captain

Harry Cording
as Guard

Alan Bridge
as Guard

Earl Dwire
as Guard

Dick Rich
as Guard

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Critic Reviews for Devil's Island

All Critics (3) | Top Critics (1) | Fresh (2) | Rotten (1) | DVD (2)

While the camera probes the brutalities inflicted on the prisoners, the drama is savagely realistic.

Oct 6, 2007 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…

Bosley Crowther
New York Times
Top Critic
Socially relevant drama about abusive conditions in France's Devil's Island penal colony.

Oct 1, 2007 | Rating: C+ | Full Review…

Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews