Cpl Allison (Robert Mitchum) washes ashore on an island in the South Pacific inhabited only by Sister Angela (Deborah Kerr). It is World War 2 and the Americans are fighting the Japanese. Will they survive capture when the Japanese land on the island?.......and will they fall in love....?
The film starts slowly and just doesn't get any faster. The first half hour is an attempt to build a relationship between the two main characters but is actually just a boring waste of time. Then the Japanese arrive and you begin to think that something exciting is going to happen. But it doesn't. Robert Mitchum talks like a Marine who just loves being a Marine (irritating) and Deborah Kerr is a nun who, very predictably, has an Irish accent (something she makes a complete mess of). While Mitchum convinces us that he wants to look after her on the island, there is no sexual chemistry between the two and so it seems rather contrived when Mitchum declares his love. Mitchum gives the audience a few laughs towards the end of the film while Kerr is insipid. I was disappointed in her performance, so, not surprisingly, she got an Oscar nomination! Nice scenery but it's a boring film.
The film starts slowly and just doesn't get any faster. The first half hour is an attempt to build a relationship between the two main characters but is actually just a boring waste of time. Then the Japanese arrive and you begin to think that something exciting is going to happen. But it doesn't. Robert Mitchum talks like a Marine who just loves being a Marine (irritating) and Deborah Kerr is a nun who, very predictably, has an Irish accent (something she makes a complete mess of). While Mitchum convinces us that he wants to look after her on the island, there is no sexual chemistry between the two and so it seems rather contrived when Mitchum declares his love. Mitchum gives the audience a few laughs towards the end of the film while Kerr is insipid. I was disappointed in her performance, so, not surprisingly, she got an Oscar nomination! Nice scenery but it's a boring film.