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Hell's Island

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Original title

Hell's Island

Year

1930

Running time

77 min.

Country

United States

Director

Edward Sloman

Screenwriter

Jo Swerling. Story: Tom Buckingham

Cast

Cinematography

Ted Tetzlaff (B&W)

Producer

Columbia Pictures. Distributor: Columbia Pictures

Genre

Drama. Adventure. Romance

Synopsis

Mac and Griff, two Americans serving in the French Foreign Legion, are friendly rivals, especially in their pursuit of women. One night in Bel-Abbas, when Mac is confined to the guardhouse for a minor infraction against their sergeant, Klotz, Griff suggests that Mac write a letter explaining his absence to Marie, the cabaret girl with whom Mac is enamored. As a joke, Griff then goes to the cabaret, determined to win Marie for himself. Once he meets her, though, Griff finds himself genuinely attracted to her. Later that evening, when Mac is let out of the guardhouse by his sympathetic colonel, he goes to the cabaret, sees Griff with Marie together and starts a brawl. As the days pass, the cynical Marie finds that she has fallen in love with Griff and the couple look forward to going back to America after his enlistment is up. Mac refuses to accept the relationship and remains angry with Griff. One day on patrol against the marauding Rifs, while Mac and Griff are alone, Mac is shot and badly wounded by a sniper. Although ordered by Klotz to leave the unconscious Mac in the desert, Griff refuses and carries his friend back to Bel-Abbas. While Mac, who did not know that Griff saved his life, is in the hospital, Griff is court-martialed and sentenced to nine years in the notorious prison on Hell's Island. The heartbroken Marie promises to wait for Griff, even though he releases her from her promise to marry him. Sometime later, Marie runs into Bert, a cockney friend of Mac and Griff, who tells her that he has just married and plans to serve his remaining enlistment as a guard on Hell's Island, the only post that allows legionnaires to be married. Marie then goes to see Mac, who has recovered, and soon convinces him to marry her and take her with him to Hell’s Island. Shortly after they arrive on the island, Mac realizes that Marie has only married him to be near Griff and wants revenge. Pretending that he wants them to be happy, Mac helps plan Griff's escape by motorboat with Marie but secretly plots to have him killed by the other guards. On the night of the escape, Mac tells Marie his true plan, then locks her in her room. However, when Bert arrives at their cottage and reveals the truth about Griff's sacrifice to save Mac's life, Mac determines to help his friends escape. After sending Marie off to meet Griff, Mac dons Griff's prison garb. Bert then sends the other guards in the wrong direction. Finally, luring the guards to to his position in the jungle, Mac is shot and killed as Marie and Griff‘s boat speeds away to freedom.

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User history

Hell's Island

1930

Edward Sloman