Review of Fog Island

Fog Island (1945)
5/10
A Man With A Plan
6 June 2004
****SPOILERS**** The only thing that seems to make any sense about the movie "Fog Island" is that the bitter and vengeful Leo Grainer, George Zucco, wanted to know for sure if any or all of the people that he invited to stay over at his home Alic Ritchfield, Lionel Atwill, Kavanaugh, Jerome Cowan, Syivla, Veda Ann Borg, and Emiline Bronson, Jaqueline Dewit, on Fog Island murdered his dear wife Karma. Finding out later in the film, at the cost of Leo's life, that Karma was murdered by his invited guests he could then die happily knowing that their greed would lead them right into the trap that he set for them.

When Leo was framed by the above mentioned individuals for embezzling his company and sent to prison they not only looted whatever was still left in the company's coffers but in their mindless greed went to Fog Island. After not finding out from Leo's wife Karma where he stashed a large portion of his liquid assets, that they felt that he hid from them, they murdered her.

His business bankrupt his wife dead and his future bleak Leo after getting out of prison had only one reason for living. That was to punish those who destroyed his life and murdered his wife Karma. At first you wondered why these people would take Leo up on his invitation to come and stay overnight at his home on the Island as guests? They knew how much Leo hated them and how unstable and crazy he was. As you watched them in the movie you soon saw just how much their greed blinded them and distorted their reason from seeing this. Leo playing on their greed made them think that he had a large amount of liquid assets hidden somewhere on Fog Island. In the end Leo's guests didn't find any assets but got far more liquids that they could have ever hoped for.

The good acting in the movie "Fog Island" by George Zucco and Lionel Atwill couldn't save the films very inane and uneven story. I could not understand why it was never really explained in the movie why Leo would hire an escaped convict Allerton, George Lloyd, to be his butler? We always see Allerton snooping around the house and looking into every nook and cranny obviously looking for the money that he thinks that Leo has hidden there.

Allerton is later confronted by Doc Lake, Ian Keith, Leo's former accountant and cell-mate. Doc gets into a fight with Allerton where he knocks him over a railing into the water and to his death. Leo who was in the background watching all of this seemed about as interested in what was happening as he would have been if he were watching the swallows flying north to Capistrano.

There was also Jeff, John Whitney, who was not on Leo's guest list but who invited himself on the Island anyway. Jeff wanted to take Leo's pretty step-daughter Gail, Sharon Douglas, off the Island and away with him. The relationship between Jeff and Gail was so contrived and phony that you couldn't believe it for a second even if you wanted to.

How did Jeff know that he and Gail would find a letter from Gail's mother, Karma, hid in a secret and hidden desk compartment insisting that she leave the Island immediately? Did Jeff have a crystal ball that enabled him to see into the future?
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