Sinners in Paradise  (1938)

Theatrical Release Information:
Sinners in Paradise

At one time Universal's "prestige" director, James Whale had slipped off the A-list by the end of the 1930s; even so, his films remained both intriguing and entertaining. In Whale's Sinners in Paradise, an airplane cracks up during a storm and crash-lands on an uncharted South Sea island. All nine passengers survive unscathed, including runaway bride Anne Wesson (Madge Evans), fugitive criminal Robert Malone (Bruce Cabot), blonde strumpet Iris Compton (Marion Martin), crooked senator Corey (Gene Lockhart), "radical" heiress Thelma Chase (Charlotte Wynters), munitions salesmen Jessup (Don Barry) and Brand (Morgan Conway), and cheerful Chinese cook Ping (Willie Fung). Forced to fend for themselves, the marooned passengers are helped along by resident beachcomber Jim Taylor (John Boles), a convicted murderer who has escaped to the island to "find himself". What he finds, of course, is romance in the form of Anne Wesson. A remake of a silent film of the same name, Sinners in Paradise was extensively re-edited before its general release, just as Whale's previous The Road Back had been. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide