tomsview 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.

higherall7 Once you get a gander of the beautiful scenery via Cinematographer Freddie Young and hear the sound of Harry Belafonte's voice, you will be willing to follow the narrative anywhere. This really does come across as a paradise on Earth, which makes it even harder to imagine that beneath the tropical lushness of the environs and the island social veneer seethes and rumbles the tension of racial and sexual unrest. It is hard to believe that once again in such an idyllic setting members of the white race are living high off the hog at the expense of an indigenous work force struggling to shrug off the yoke of exploitation and oppression. Malcolm Arnold and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra serve up the musical score with a light and rousing air, but it is Harry Belafonte who is manning the boat.Harry Belafonte strides through the story with a youthful power and authority as he gives Joan Fontaine, his romantic interest and walkabout date, a guided tour through his culture and the places of his upbringing. It would have been interesting to see her return the favor as I believe that would have beefed up the narrative. But their relationship has a wholesomeness that comes across as high-minded despite their ethnic differences. Fontaine conveys her role with a mature beauty and dignity. Perhaps Grace Kelly would have brought more youth and heat to the role, but here the age differences between her and Belafonte are next to insignificant and we are really just comparing apples to oranges.Belafonte is in great company here surrounded by a cast at their most glamorous. Dorthy Dandridge is at times a walking, talking, painting and Joan Collins gives Elizabeth Taylor a run for her money in acting talent and sex appeal. James Mason, Michael Rennie, and Stephen Boyd are suave and gentlemanly from their troubled perspectives, and Britisher John Williams has never presented a stiffer upper lip. John Justin comes across somewhat wooden and stiff as Dandridge's love interest, but then it really is hard to take your eyes off Dorothy anyway. Here producer Darryl F. Zanuck serves up a dish of old style Hollywood and the beauty factor is high.While Belafonte plays the role of a black man romancing a white woman and Justin plays the role of a white man timorously involved with a bi-racial black woman, James Mason is fuming with a murderous jealousy over his own wife who is the same color as himself. I think it would have been good for the symmetry of the story to have a black man and woman struggle with the issue of jealousy as a parallel subplot to complete the exploration of relationships, but this isn't represented here.Despite flaws in the narrative and the characterizations, Belafonte really does come across as a man rising up from the people and shouldering their aspirations. When he sings you can easily see why Joan Fontaine holds him in such high regard. Personally, I would have loved to see him singing while working on a banana or fishing boat. Just as it would have been great to see more looks of longing and passionate angst between all the romantic leads. But there is an air of reserve and social decorum pervading the entire film even down to Phyllis Dalton and David Ffolkes' costume design that, even while vitiating the heat and passion of island forbidden love, somehow gives gravitas to director Robert Rossen's tale of Paradise Found and Paradise Lost.

R. David Adams This came out when I was 9 and my cousin and I saw it at a theater 7 times! It was the first time I gave any attention to an adult movie! I have seen it a few times over the last many years and It still is provocative to me. When I was 9 I did not fully understand the interracial thing, and I was brought up to ignore color. What I remember was imagining what happened when the film faded out at the height of intense moments. What me imagine happening is far worse than anything they could ever show on film. that fact that it was shot in a beautiful location was not lost on my 9 year old mind and for years dreamed of living in a beautiful island paradise. The music ie: title song I learned every word! Unlike others who saw this 30 years later and through adult eyes with agendas of their own, I lived the editing, the acting and the photography. I sometimes think people expect to much out of a movie. It is after all, just entertainment! Watch this movie, without preconceived notions of script, editing, story etc, enjoy it!

xtralogn I was prompted to comment because of the previous reviewer's comments about "the hissable whites" and that "what we really want from the movie is some windswept romance and more of Belafonte." I was in my preteens when this movie came out and I saw it in the segregated South. It was the talk of the town because it was the first movie that dared show an interracial couple. It was such a controversial topic, however, that while the movie makers showed daring in matching Harry Belafonte with Joan Fontaine, they allowed them to only hug and not actually kiss. That's why there was no "windswept romance".Here it is nearly 50 years later and I just watched part of the movie Alexander with Colin Farrell and read some reviews on the movie. Several reviewers commented that while Alexander was shown often with his gay lover, the two were only allowed to hug and not to kiss. So intolerance persists--albeit with a different set of protagonists.Back to Island in the Sun: It was a ground-breaking movie and worth viewing by those who are willing to judge it by the standards of the time and not today's standards. And yes, Harry Belafonte was and still is gorgeous.