Sunday Review: I Escaped from Devil's Island (1973)

    I’m sure the making of this movie had absolutely nothing to do with Papillon. Absolutely. Nothing.

    In the far-too-crowded annals of overlooked film directors, surely William Witney has a prominent place. In many ways, the solid and reliable style he developed while working on the old film serials at Republic is one of the most influential and imitated throughout cinematic history. Witney (along with other such luminaries as John English and Spencer Gordon Bennett) perfected the art of the serial, the cliffhanger style of which would later be emulated by blockbusters for years. When television came along and made the serials irrelevant, Witney adapted to the times, taking the reigns for several Western programs like Bonanza and The Virginian, with the occasional feature here and there.

    Witney brings this experience along with him for I Escaped from Devil’s Island, a Roger and Gene Corman-produced vehicle for Jim Brown and The Rat Patrol’s Christopher George. Coming out merely a month ahead of Papillon, Witney’s film covers a lot of the same ground - so much so that the producers of that film sued the Cormans for copyright infringement. But although both films involve escaping from the famous island fortress of French New Guiana, the two go about their business in completely different ways. For one, I Escaped from Devil’s Island makes no bones about being an exploitative B-movie - content to showcase violence and sexuality and all manner of shocking content in the most exciting manner possible (on a budget, of course).

    The film is supposed to be equally shared between costars Jim Brown and Christopher George, but ultimately Brown makes the movie his through sheer force of presence. Not that George is terrible as the idealistic political prisoner Davert, but not many can hold the screen in equal charisma and presence when compared to Brown. Not content with being the greatest running-back of all time, Brown also proved a versatile actor - by the time of I Escaped from Devil’s Island’s release, he had already carved out his own piece of Hollywood, and his performance here exemplifies why. As the hotheaded Le Bras, Brown pretty much dominates the image like a titan any time he’s on screen. He and George’s character have an on-again, off-again rivalry throughout their escape, and the two bounce off of each other nicely; never once letting the banter to become too grating or tiresome.

    The script is filled with the sort of half-motivations and dropped plotlines that we’ve come to expect from exploitation films of the era - indeed, for much of the film’s runtime I thought there were scenes that seemed to be missing. But that doesn’t stop Witney and his stars from having a fair amount of trashy fun in the meantime, whether it’s a shark attack early on, Brown’s one night stand with a native girl or the various fistfights that erupt throughout. Witney himself is key to the evolution of the motion picture fight scene, devising a choreographed system based on Busby Berkely’s musical numbers - much of which you still see in many action films today. The fights here are staged similarly, with that classic throw-your-whole-body-into-it feel that made Witney’s original serials so enjoyable.

    In the end, I Escaped from Devil’s Island is little more than a footnote in the careers of all involved, but there’s still a lot of fun to be found within its exploitative framework.