HURRICANE ISLAND (1951)
Article 4263 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 7-13-2013
Directed by Lew Landers
Featuring Jon Hall, Marie Windsor, Romo Vincent
Country: USA
What it is: History on a budget

In order to recover from a curse brought about by a poisoned arrow, Ponce De Leon must find the fountain of youth. Unfortunately, pirates are also after the fountain of youth… and the gold that is supposed to be there.

Sometimes the opening credits can set the appropriate expectations; the second I saw that the producer was Sam Katzman, I knew this rather fanciful historical epic was going to be very budget-conscious. Still, there are worse directors for this sort of thing than Lew Landers, and though much of the movie is stiff and silly, it’s also entertaining enough to get by, the acting is mostly acceptable, it does have some decent spectacle, and, despite the historical background, it doesn’t back away from the fantastic content (the fountain of youth really exists). It’s far from great, but if you keep your expectations in check, it passes muster.