I first saw this at the cinema in 1957. I was young and probably didn't fully appreciate the issues the film dealt with, but over the years I realised that it was an important film that had something to say about race relations.
With Barbados standing in for the fictional Santa Marta in the West Indies, the plot centres on the Fleury family - Maxwell Fleury (James Mason) and his sister Jocelyn (Joan Collins). Other characters and relationships weave through the story including the ones between David Boyeur (Harry Belafonte) and Mavis Norman (Joan Fontaine) - black boy, white girl - and Denis Archer (John Justin) and Margot Seaton (Dorothy Dandridge) - white boy, black girl.
The crux of the story is the inequality between the white establishment and the native population descended from African slaves or of mixed race - 'the colour problem'. But times are changing and the native population is gaining political power.
Maxwell Fleury, who represents the white patrician families of the island, becomes paranoid over just about everything, especially when he learns that a mixed-race grandmother crept into his family tree.
The film features four actors with great presence: Harry Belafonte, James Mason, Michael Rennie and Steven Boyd, and four actresses so striking it's almost overload: Joan Fontaine, Patricia Owens, Joan Collins and Dorothy Dandridge.
The film was a daring decision by Daryl Zanuck at the time. It dealt with race issues that were boiling to the surface in the 1950's and would boil over in the 1960's and regularly thereafter. Director Robert Rossen tackled the issues head on - the last conversation between David Boyeur and Mavis Norman expressed uncomfortable truths.
However, this good-looking movie with its good-looking cast also had to work as entertainment, and it does from the opening frame as Harry Belafonte sings the brilliant title song, which he also co-wrote.
The song gave composer Malcolm Arnold something to build the score of the film around. Although Arnold was a fine composer for the concert hall, much of his film work sounded the same. Belafonte 's title song and "Lead Man Holler", which he sang later, lifted Arnold's score from his usual by-the-numbers approach.
Other films at the time were also focussing on the race issue, but this one went closest to the bedroom. Although the interaction between the sets of interracial lovers stopped short of a passionate kiss, "Island in the Sun" otherwise didn't hold back on what it had to say.
With Barbados standing in for the fictional Santa Marta in the West Indies, the plot centres on the Fleury family - Maxwell Fleury (James Mason) and his sister Jocelyn (Joan Collins). Other characters and relationships weave through the story including the ones between David Boyeur (Harry Belafonte) and Mavis Norman (Joan Fontaine) - black boy, white girl - and Denis Archer (John Justin) and Margot Seaton (Dorothy Dandridge) - white boy, black girl.
The crux of the story is the inequality between the white establishment and the native population descended from African slaves or of mixed race - 'the colour problem'. But times are changing and the native population is gaining political power.
Maxwell Fleury, who represents the white patrician families of the island, becomes paranoid over just about everything, especially when he learns that a mixed-race grandmother crept into his family tree.
The film features four actors with great presence: Harry Belafonte, James Mason, Michael Rennie and Steven Boyd, and four actresses so striking it's almost overload: Joan Fontaine, Patricia Owens, Joan Collins and Dorothy Dandridge.
The film was a daring decision by Daryl Zanuck at the time. It dealt with race issues that were boiling to the surface in the 1950's and would boil over in the 1960's and regularly thereafter. Director Robert Rossen tackled the issues head on - the last conversation between David Boyeur and Mavis Norman expressed uncomfortable truths.
However, this good-looking movie with its good-looking cast also had to work as entertainment, and it does from the opening frame as Harry Belafonte sings the brilliant title song, which he also co-wrote.
The song gave composer Malcolm Arnold something to build the score of the film around. Although Arnold was a fine composer for the concert hall, much of his film work sounded the same. Belafonte 's title song and "Lead Man Holler", which he sang later, lifted Arnold's score from his usual by-the-numbers approach.
Other films at the time were also focussing on the race issue, but this one went closest to the bedroom. Although the interaction between the sets of interracial lovers stopped short of a passionate kiss, "Island in the Sun" otherwise didn't hold back on what it had to say.