SOS Pacific (1959)

Purely Joyful Movie!

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

I suppose you could call "SOS Pacific" an early British attempt at a disaster movie as a motley crew of lower division 'stars', (Richard Attenborough, John Gregson, Pier Angeli, Eddie Constantine, Eva Bartok), find themselves stranded on a desert island after their plane crashes and if that wasn't bad enough, the island is about to become target practice for the Atom Bomb. Leaving aside the laughably clichéd script and the hackneyed acting, this is reasonably entertaining. It has one of Attenborough's rare bad performances and one of Constantine's rare good ones. Shot, very nicely in black and white, by Wilkie Cooper though now currently available in a very poorly desaturated colour version.

I most certainly agree with the reviewer who awarded the film a "10". It does, indeed, well deserve it.It is one of the most underrated pictures around with good, strong performances, very taut direction by Guy Green, excellent photography by Wilkie Cooper and interesting locations in the Canary Islands. Also worthy of note is the music score which was by the great French composer, Georges Auric.Just as good, of course, is the story. I wont, of course, give away its great plot but just simply advise people to see it whenever it turns up. I envy the person who bought it on ebay! I, too, hope he enjoys it. It's a must-see thriller of the first order.

A plane full of people encounters trouble in flight and is forced down in the Pacific. Thankfully they are near an island or not, since the island is due to have an atom bomb test go off in a very short time and they have no way of letting anyone know that they are there. It may sound corny and contrived but this film just works from start to finish. Once the film is underway you just are happy to have a film this involving to drag you along for the 90 minutes that this film takes to get to the conclusion.Why this film isn't better known is mystery since it has everything that a mystery should in spades and then some.The cast is great, including Richard Attenborough who plays one of the screens great slime balls.Eddie Constantine makes great hero and makes you wonder why he never became a bigger star here in the United States.Search this film out, you will enjoy it.

I saw this movie 20 years ago and can't shake it. It was 5 stores in one. Great cast,good angles,explosive drama..Hey,I just liked it..Ok..a must see..IF you can find it...