James Mason took on a rare swashbuckling role for Hero's Island, a 1962 labor of love, co-produced with director-writer Leslie Stevens. He stars as a seaman washed ashore on Bull Island in the colonial Carolinas who throws in his lot and gives his heart to a widow fighting to protect her family. The story gave him the opportunity for solid dramatic work, a stunning climactic sword fight against mercenary Neville Brand and a surprising last-reel revelation about his character. The film also gave him the chance to work with his son, Morgan, who would go on to an adult career as a producer.

Mason was at the height of his stardom in 1962, appearing the same year as Humbert Humbert in the hit adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita for director Stanley Kubrick. The high would not last for long. Two years after making Hero's Island, he would divorce his wife of 23 years, Pamela Mason. The mountainous alimony and child support payments she won would send him into a whirlwind of quickie films just to keep up with his financial obligations. Despite a few solid productions, it would be years before he re-established his position as one of the world's most respected actors.

Hero's Island was the second directing credit for Stevens, a playwright who had broken into films adapting his hit comedy The Marriage-Go-Round to the screen as a vehicle for David Niven and Susan Hayward. It also marked his second try at turning his wife, Kate Manx, into a film star. Previously, he had directed her to strong critical reaction in the adult drama Private Property. Although she was a beautiful, naturally gifted actress, their turbulent marriage didn't last. They divorced shortly thereafter, and she committed suicide in 1964.

Despite the misfortunes of the film's stars, Hero's Island also proved a benefit to other members of the cast and crew. Child actor Darby Hinton, cast as one of Manx's three children, would move to small-screen stardom as Fess Parker's son on Daniel Boone before launching an adult career as a soap opera star (Days of Our Lives). Veteran cinematographer Ted McCord, whose beautiful photography of the film's Catalina locations won the picture's strongest reviews, had already built a solid career with such beautifully shot films as Johnny Belinda (1948) and the innovative East of Eden (1955). He would follow Hero's Island with the box-office blockbuster The Sound of Music (1965). And composer Dominic Frontiere would continue his association with Stevens by scoring the cult classic TV series The Outer Limits and the recently rediscovered horror film Incubus (1965), the only film ever shot entirely in Esperanto.

Producer: Leslie Stevens, James Mason
Director & Screenplay: Leslie Stevens
Cinematography: Ted D. McCord
Music: Dominic Frontiere
Film Editing: Richard K. Brockway
Costume Design: Reeder P. Boss, Marjorie Wahl
Cast: James Mason (Jacob Webber), Kate Manx (Devon Mainwaring), Neville Brand (Kingstree), Rip Torn (Nicholas), Warren Oates (Wayte), Harry Dean Stanton (Dixey), Morgan Mason (Cullen), Darby Hinton (Jafar). C-95m.

by Frank Miller