Kirk Douglas' first film based on a novel by Jules Verne since 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is constantly confounding expections. First you expect a solitary interior drama along the lines of 'Thunder Rock', then with the arrival of a gang of wreckers - who just happen to be using Kirk's island to stash their bootie - it starts to resemble 'The Most Dangerous Game' with leering pirate Yul Brunner pursuing Douglas on horseback, while further complicated by a brief flashback to Kirk's early days prospecting gold.
Perhaps because so many of the cast are Spanish there's not really much dialogue - although there is a lot of screaming and diabolical laughter on the part of the pirates - amply compensated for by the cut-glass tones of Samantha Eggar answering to the name of Arabella Ponsonby.
Perhaps because so many of the cast are Spanish there's not really much dialogue - although there is a lot of screaming and diabolical laughter on the part of the pirates - amply compensated for by the cut-glass tones of Samantha Eggar answering to the name of Arabella Ponsonby.