a daystar productions
released thru united artists corporation
1962
90 minutes
filmed in PANAVISON and in TECHNICOLOR
The film starts with the following titles (golden copperplate font), seen on a black background that fades over a shot of a foggy island, at a far distance and, at the level of the sea:
BULL ISLAND
A SMALL LANDRISE
BELONGING TO THE CROWN
PROVINCE OF CAROLINA
Production credits:
produced by LESLIE STEVENS and JAMES MASON
associate producer ELAINE MICHEA
director and dramatist LESLIE STEVENS
music DOMINIC FRONTIERE
adaptation ROBERT VAN EPS
director of photography TED McCORD, A.S.C.
film editor RICHARD K. BROCKWAY
production manager EDWARD FITZGERALD
assistant director IVAN VOLKMAN
2nd assistant director GEORGE BATCHELLER
properties RICHARD M. RUBIN
chief grip CHARLES HANAWALT
electrician LLOYD GARNELL
camera operator RICHARD BATCHELLER
special effects J. W. ERICKSON
make-up artist FRED PHILLIPS
men's costumes REEDER P. BOSS
women's costumes MARJORIE WAHL
script supervisor HOPE McLAUGHLIN
sound editor KAY ROSE
sound JAY ASHWORTH
stunt supervisor JACK WILLIAMS
RYDER SOUND SYSTEM
Cast of Characters:
JAMES MASON as Jacob Weber/Major Stede Bonnett
NEVILLE BRAND as Kingstree
KATE MANX as Devon Mainwaring
RIP TORN as Nicholas Gates
WARREN OATES as Wayte Giddens
BRENDAN DILLON as Thomas Mainwaring
[HARRY] DEAN STANTON as Dikey Gates
ROBERT SAMPSON as Enoch Gates
MORGAN MASON as Cullen
DARBY HINTON as Jafar
JOHN HUDKINS, JR. as Bullock
ROBERT JOHNSON as Pound
WILLIAM HART as Meggett
 
Plotline:
In 1718, the servant family Mainwaring (husband, wife and two small children) who travels with a criminal, Wayte Giddens, stops at Bull Island to get possession of a land given by their boss as a reward of their loyal service. Inside, two fishermen, Gates' brothers stare at them. They threaten the family to leave the place because it is their own but the family shows them an official document signed by their employer. Nevertheless, they warn them to go before noon. The two brothers get drunk on the beach and Enoch kills Thomas Mainwaring with a stone. Later, Wayte discovers a raft with an unconscious man tied in to it. Wayte releases him and sees a sign-post around his neck with the following words: dead man. His name is Jacob Weber which reveals to be a pirate but who's going to save the family from all odds: Gates' brothers and three ruthless pirates.
Comments:
"Incubus" is in the line of "Hero's Island" in many ways and sides: a blatant outgrowth. Let's define this pirate film as a kind of proto-"Incubus" because of his treatment of the genre: a blend of Kurosawa and Bergman. In a certain way, it anticipates John Boorman's "Hell in the Pacific" (1968) whose cinematography is due to Conrad Hall. The main theme that articulates "Hero's Island" is property and therefore, the belief for the land: a typical pioneer leaning and a very puritan and Protestant value. The drama starts from that fact and the human conflicts that are bred. As in "Incubus", one man is murdered in the shore, between the water and the sand. The character played by Robert Simpson literally knocks to death (like a caveman) the father of a Protestant servant family with a rock. The film is loaded with Stevens' medieval and semi-hypnotical pace that is showed vividly with the details of the Nature. One shot of a tree remind the painting of Scandinavian painter Hammershoi owing to the veiled light. I call Stevens' style: a poetical Naturalism. Naturalism is supposed to be raw, brutal, dirty and realistic but not in Stevens' work. In "Hero's Island", the colors are bright, vivid and energetic. As in most Stevens' production, there's a blonde woman as a pivotal character: Quaker-type, Scandinavian, well-built Kate Manx (Stevens' wife before Allyson Ames) who plays the school teacher kind. She is much too strict, harsh and by the book in the beginning. As in Stevens' first feature, "Private Property", Kate Manx plays with Warren Oates. Too bad, the film suffers from the family orientation (mother and children relationships) because it was released by the Studio. Defoe's concept of Robinson Crusoe is tackled. None of the characters want to rejoin civilization, except pirate Jacob Weber (James Mason) who fights it. Stevens uses a fantastical technique in the film-making which is a translation of direct emotions on the screen. For example, the pirates walk straight to the camera without stopping their course. Film editor Richard K. Brockway adds a fade over to pass to other scene. This editing process is also present in "Incubus" when Kia (Allyson Ames) escapes from the church and then, outside, comes charging straight at the camera. As in "Incubus", there's a body which floats near the coast. This body is in fact Nicholas Gates' one (Rip Torn) who turns against his brothers. He is saved by Wayte and Weber and, finally remains in the island with Devon and the kids. We learn from the character of Devon Mainwaring (which has a Middle Age type of clothing) that her husband orders her by contract: "I cost 2 pounds, 7 shillings", said Devon to Jacob Weber while walking in the countryside. Devon has only one child Jafar, the blonde one, and the other one used to be bought in England for 3 shillings. I think the family stuff narrows the drama down and I tend to believe there's a flavor of Irwin Allen's "Swiss Robinson" in it. Stevens insists too much on the religious side of the female lead. I prefer devilish beauty: Kia. Angry Jacob Weber (James Mason) slaps Devon because she reminds her bigot wife: "You call me the Devil!... This is what I respect [a sword]!... Don't order me!", said Jacob. Jacob reveals his true identity while watching the agony of Wayte (Warren Oates): "Pirate... I am Major Stede Bonnett!... I am the Devil, oh, yes I am! I have lived in hell!". He worked with Black Beard aka Captain Teach. We can see two Outer Limits' regular men: William Hart (Megget) and Robert Johnson (Pound) that are the men of Kingstree (Neville Brand) whose entry inside the island is plush (Kingstree is sat on a chair in the middle of a boat and stares at the beach). The duel between Jacob and Kingstree is shot with a hand-held camera which gives a realistic style. Devon guns down Enoch Gates and revenges her husband by accident despite her strong religious beliefs. In the end, we learn why Jacob Weber was tied in to the raft. His men turn against him. He takes Devon's boat to return to Kingston in order to re-launch his Queen Anne Revenge ship. Oddly enough, Stevens shot an unsold pilot titled: "Mr. Kingston" which takes place on a liner. Devon concludes by saying: "God and us and the land is all I know!"
Daystar's Note:
In "The Mutant" (an episode of "The Outer Limits") as in "Hero's Island", Robert Sampson (Lt. Chandler) does his blinking-closing eyes trick acting; oddly enough, the characters' position is reversed because Warren Oates (Reese Fowler) is the soft one and Robert Sampson the mad one. Warren Oates will be a regular character (Ves Painter) as William Hart (Red) in "Stoney Burke"; Harry Dean Stanton also plays in "Point of Honor" and, even, James Mason (credited as Enoch Gates), plays a bum in "The Scavenger"; Mason is a close friend of Stevens and he joins the Daystar ship from the start in Walter Lang's "The Marriage-Go-Around". You can see for the first time the face of the voice over Robert Johnson ("The Outer Limits" and "Mission: Impossible"). Stevens' wife, Kate Manx, previously works on "Private Property" and on the first episode of "Stoney Burke": "The Contender". Notice that most of the production crew works on "The Outer Limits" and "Incubus", for instance: Dominic Frontiere, Richard K. Brockway, Richard M. Rubin, Lloyd Garnell, Fred Phillips, Hope McLaughlin, Jay Ashworth, Elaine Michea. Cinematographer Ted McCord first works on "Private Property" and later, on the first episodes of "Stoney Burke" and, moreover, camera operator Richard Batcheller also assists him on the pilot of "Stoney Burke". There's no music supervision (no John Elizalde, here!) but instead "Outer Limits" composer-arranger Robert Van Eps (see "Tourist Attraction" and "Don't Open Till Doomsday"). On the whole, the music orientation is pastoral and optimistic, as the summer holidays on a desert island, which is sumed up by the opening theme (recycled in the "Stoney Burke" episode: "The King of the Hill"). Nevertheless, there're intrusions into darkness via the use of a discreet harp because Dominic Frontiere creates two dreamlike music themes when tension occurs, in other words, the themes of Enoch Gates (which has a pre-"The Mice" tone: see "The Outer Limits") and the action-packed pirates. Last but not the least, when Jacob Weber leaves the island, we can hear a melancolic end theme.
Links:
Hero's Island Audio Clips: Main Title • The Theme of Enoch Gates • The Theme of Kingstree: Part I & Part II • End Credits
James Mason at Classic Movie Favorites: http://classicmoviefavorites.com/mason/
James Mason's Autobiography: Read the extract concerning his Daystar's involvement