Unknown Island

Unknown Island is a 1948 American adventure film directed by Jack Bernhard and starring Virginia Grey, Phillip Reed and Richard Denning. Shot in Cinecolor it was released by Film Classics and in Britain by General Film Distributors.

Unknown Island
Film poster
Directed by	Jack Bernhard
Written by	Story: Robert T. Shannon Screenplay Robert T. Shannon Jack Harvey
Produced by	Albert J. Cohen
Starring	Virginia Grey Phillip Reed Richard Denning Barton MacLane Ray Corrigan
Cinematography	Fred Jackman Jr. Robert Gough Milton Gold
Edited by	Harry Gerstad
Music by	Raoul Kraushaar (credited as Ralph Stanley)
Production company	Albert Jay Cohen Productions
Distributed by	Film Classics
Release date	October 15, 1948 (1948-10-15)
Running time	75 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$400,000[1]
Box office	over $1 million (est.)[1]

Plot

Ted Osborne and his fiancée Carole hire Captain Tarnowski to take them to a mysterious island where Osborne claims dinosaurs live. Tarnowski’s friend Fairbanks, a traumatized survivor of a past shipwreck there, reluctantly joins them.

On the voyage, tensions rise—Fairbanks grows fond of Carole, and the crew suspects danger ahead. After a failed mutiny, they reach the island and confirm dinosaurs exist: brontosaurs, dimetrodons, tyrannosaurs, and even a giant sloth.

The crew suffers attacks, accidents, and infighting. Tarnowski, obsessed with capturing a dinosaur and fueled by alcohol, becomes increasingly reckless. He kidnaps Carole, but she and Fairbanks escape. Tarnowski is eventually killed by the giant sloth.

In the end, Osborne, Carole, Fairbanks, and one other survivor manage to leave the island on Tarnowski’s ship.

Cast

• Virginia Grey as Carole Lane
• Phillip Reed as Ted Osborne
• Richard Denning as John Fairbanks
• Barton MacLane as Captain Tarnowski
• Dick Wessel as First Mate Sanderson
• Dan White as Edwards
• Phil Nazir as Chief Lascar
• Ray "Crash" Corrigan as The Sloth / Tyrannosaurus
• Snub Pollard as a Singapore Barfly
• Harry Wilson as Barfly

Public domain

Unknown Island is in the public domain. The film did have copyright filed on December 1, 1948, which was renewed on April 22, 1976. However, as the film was released on October 15, 1948, and the law stated that a film must be copyrighted before release, the copyright wasn't filed on time and is, by implication, invalid.

Stock footage from Unknown Island was used in the American version of Godzilla Raids Again and in Adventure at the Center of the Earth.

See also

• List of films featuring dinosaurs