This is a quirky hotch-potch of extreme adventure and romantic drama, starting off splendidly at the "Isle of Forgotten Sins", an institution of very attractive ladies threatened with being closed down by authorities, with Gale Sondergaard brilliant as the mistress in charge of a set of very young pretty ladies not to be trifled with, one having a gun and using it. To this blatantly romantic place John Carradine returns with his rival and buddy Frank Fenton to their favourite Gale, and there is a splendid fight between them tearing the whole place to shreds. This colourful beginning could have introduced some interesting Conradian intrigue, but instead it goes gold-hunting the hard way by diving for a wreck. The following intrigue is very thin, and there is only a tremendous storm helping it up. There are many ridiculous elements, it's a cheap B-feature made on a poor budget, which you can see on all the boat scenes - the waters are constantly as stale as in a bath tub. But there are some exotically curious ingredients as well. On this god-forsaken lewd island among bums and wenches a pianist appears playing off-hand Pathétique by Beethoven and a difficult Chopin waltz just like that. He is actually one of the crooks and ends up badly. The music is impressing all through, by a certain Leo Erdödy, and a typical mark by the director Ulmer - he was Austrian and always used advanced music in his films.
It all transcends from a general mess of disasters and murders and reckless fortune huntings into a comedy, and John Carradine should be happy with Gale Sondergaard having the last word.
It all transcends from a general mess of disasters and murders and reckless fortune huntings into a comedy, and John Carradine should be happy with Gale Sondergaard having the last word.