W. Somerset Maugham is one of my favourite writers and Humphrey Bogart is one of my favourite actors but combining the two doesn't always give the best result.
Isle of Fury is a film adaptation of Maugham's short story The Narrow Corner which is a classic tale of adventure, passion, and intrigue. In it, island-hopping across the South Pacific, the esteemed Dr. Saunders is offered passage by Captain Nichols and his companion Fred Blake. The trip turns turbulent when a vicious storm forces them to seek shelter on the remote island of Kanda. There these three men fall under the spell of the sultry and stunningly beautiful Louise, and their story spirals into a wicked tale of love, murder, jealousy, and suicide.
This might well be the worst Bogart movie that I’ve watched but it's not entirely unwatchable. Nor is the 1954 film King of the Coral Sea with Chips Rafferty which is of particular interest to me as it was shot on location in Thursday Island where I lived and worked in 1977 and of which I have fond memories to this day.
When I watch this fight scene, I don't watch the pugilists but the shore line in the background which was pretty much still the same in 1977. And, of course, the fighting still goes on to this day ☺
