utgard14 A prostitute (Dorothy Mackaill) accidentally kills a man. With help from her sailor boyfriend, she escapes to a Caribbean island with no extradition. He leaves her but promises to return for her later. Because there's no place safer to leave the woman you love than an island full of criminals. Anyway, she vows to stay chaste for him and not fool around with any of the men. Oh, brother. Here's where the movie gets really weird and leads to an ending that defies belief.Seamy Pre-Coder from William Wellman is certainly interesting, I'll give it that. Even though it's nowhere near as graphic as movies today, you still might feel the need to bathe after watching it. The performances are all good and the bleak script is solid. Possibly the coolest opening title shot of any early '30s movie I've seen. If you enjoy Pre-Code films you'll definitely want to check this one out.

LeonLouisRicci There is a Deep, Personal, Melodramatic Story in this Pre-Code Film and because it is Pre-Code the Personal Story can be that of a Prostitute Without Apology and there is No Need for All that Innuendo and Symbolism that the "Do Gooders" would Force on the Industry and the American Movie Going Public for Decades. This is the Raw Deal.Here we have a Fine Central Performance from Dorothy Mackaill who is Anything but Snow White Living Among the Dwarfs as Some Have Said. Although Her Chosen Profession is Not that of Her Choosing She Seemed to Not Mind it that Much as can be Witnessed when She Explodes into a Ravenous Rage of "Come On" after being Cooped Up in Her Room.The Men are All Sleazebags of Varying Degrees but None are Acceptable in Any Realm of Civilized Society. Charles Middleton says..."I am a lawyer, as twisted as they come". The Other Sweaty, Ugly, and Lecherous Dregs Pant and Drool at the Sight of "The only white woman on the Island.", Relentlessly.This All becomes a Bit Much with the Constant Tongue Wagging and Cigarette Lighting, but the Movie is Undoubtedly an Unattractive, Lurid Display of the Trashy Pulp Stories, so Popular Among the Masses.It Should be Pointed Out that the Two African Americans here are Without Stereotype and are In Fact, the Most Likable Characters in the Movie and there is a Jazzy Song Sung by Nina Mae McKinney "Sleepy Time Down South" as She Serves Champagne and Bends Over with Each Glass to Reveal Her Charms (other than singing).Pre-Coders are Drawn to This One Like Moths to a Flame and Analyzed it to Death, and it does have a lot of Sweaty Sleaze and Symbolic Sexuality as well as Overt Sexuality and there is an Attraction here that is Undeniable. So if Tropical Teasing and Unattractive Men Lusting After a Sexpot on an "Island of Lost Souls" is Your Thing, this One's for You.

Neil Doyle DOROTHY MACKAILL is a name unknown by today's moviegoers but she was a pretty good actress judging by her work as a prostitute on the lam in SAFE IN HELL. It's the kind of tough gal role that would have suited someone like Barbara Stanwyck, but Mackaill is a pretty blonde who nails her character completely.After giving her ex-lover rough treatment and thinking he's dead after his apartment catches fire, she's advised to flee to a tropical island where there's no extradition to the United States for criminals. What she discovers is that the island is a living hell and all of its inhabitants are fugitives from the law.There's such a ring of familiarity about the whole story that I can swear it must have been remade years later, perhaps for an Ann Sheridan movie or a vehicle for Jean Harlow. I'll have to check it out, but I'm sure I've seen this whole story before in a later version.For pre-code fans, this is a "must see." All of the situations are racy enough to send the censors reeling and some of the dialog is crisp and believable in a way that most films of the '30s never achieve.About as downbeat as any film about sinners, it's directed in forthright fashion by William A. Wellman, with some decidedly unpleasant looking men cast in supporting roles as island outcasts. Worth a watch for the performances of Dorothy Mackaill and Nina Mae McKinney in the only femme roles.Only other recognizable cast member for me was IVAN SIMPSON, who had a brief scene in THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD where he played the proprietor of Kent Road Tavern who admits Maid Marian so that she can inform Robin's men about his capture.

moonspinner55 Director William Wellman moved from silent pictures to talkies with considerable skill, and he handles the sordid goings-on here with aplomb, aided no doubt by saucy Dorothy Mackaill as his leading lady. The plot, taken from Houston Branch's play, is an odd one: pretty call-girl, under the belief she has killed one of her johns, hides out in the tropics with a group of resident criminals. Eyebrow-raiser from MGM predictably has dated and clunky trappings when viewed today, but Mackaill is stunning; sultry, funny, dreamy-eyed, she lays on the fruit-loop melodrama with verve. Enjoyable feature for Hollywood buffs, the script might have been ripe material for Crawford or Davis eight or nine years later. **1/2 from ****