Sunday, December 31, 2023

Paradise Island (1930)

IMDb plot summary: Ellen Bradford comes to the South Sea Island of Tonga to marry her fiancĂ© and finds out that he is a drunk. She also finds out that she is the only white woman on the island and, as such, has three men taking a deep interest in her. 
Directed by Bert Glennon. Starring Kenneth Harlan, Marceline Day, and Tom Santschi.

Paradise Island is a film from 1930 about a woman who travels to meet her fiance in an island of Tonga, only to find that he's not a good person and now she's got more than one alternative suitor interested in her. To be honest, I rephrased that description from IMDb, because this was an extremely dull movie that I forgot about almost instantly after watching. The romance aspect is totally uncompelling, as none of the suitors are likable in the least, and it absolutely traffics in the sort of racist stereotypes that were all too common in any 1930s film set in a quote-unquote "exotic" location. While I've seen quite a few gems on my trek through the year 1930, the year also has its fair share of duds, and this is one of those. Not worth checking out.

How it entered my Flickchart: 
Paradise Island < The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Paradise Island < Beauty and the Bestie
Paradise Island < Joseph: King of Dreams
Paradise Island < Hidalgo
Paradise Island > Rush Hour
Paradise Island > Friends With Money
Paradise Island > The Notebook
Paradise Island < A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
Paradise Island < Chicken Little
Paradise Island < The Evil Dead (1981)
Paradise Island < Broken Flowers
Paradise Island > Coogan's Bluff
Final spot: #3620 out of 3830, or 5%.

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