Island of the Blue Dolphins (1964)

The Worst Film Ever

One of my all time favorites.

Admirable film.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The ship that took her people went to Mission Santa Barbara where they all died of illness and are buried there. After several years they returned for her and she also died shortly after her arrival at the mission where she was buried under the name the missionaries gave her Juanna Maria. The island that her people lived on is San Nicolas Island 60 miles off the coast of Point Mugu,California. Her story is not much like the book or movie.Look it up on the web under Juanna Maria or island of the blue dolphin. The Navy now owns it and uses it as a missile test range.They do not allow visitors to the island but there is a lot of info on the web about the island and Juanna Maria.

I am biased, I suppose, as I got to be an extra in this movie which was filmed at Anchor Point, California. I was an Airman, stationed at the Point Arena Air Force Station. Us Air Force guys got into the act because the Universal production company was seeking local native Americans to play the part Indians in the movie. They were to play the part of poor, starving people but the local natives were of large stature, and they could not get a full compliment of Indians so they came to the Airbase and enlisted some of us poor,staving G.I.'s to be Indians. We met at Anchor Point, where we went into tents and were sprayed with brown stain, given dark, long haired wigs, and loincloth es. I have a picture standing next to the female lead, Celia Kaye. By gosh, I really looked like a native. I really enjoyed my experience as an extra as the production crew was ever so nice. When the Aleut ship shot it's cannon and blew up all the Indians, I wanted to be able to see myself from amongst all the other bodies, so I didn't die instantly, as I was supposed to, but rose up on one elbow, before dying. This trick allowed me to see myself when I got to see the movie. I don't think anyone noticed but me.Many years later I got a chance to be an extra in Fire in the Sky, a story about an alien abduction. In this one I was a Doctor, and got about 15 seconds of film time, plus a 1/2 second full face shot. Another company, but still all very nice people. I have never worked in any job to this day that treated everybody so well and these people from Hollywood.Don TimmonsDillingham, Alaska

I liked the movie well enough, considering it came from 1964. I felt that they didn't depict the passage of time very accurately and I was surprised when all of a sudden, the movie was over. I know that books and movies are usually very different, but I think this movie could have been a far better representation of the book. Add some more details, don't change some of the details from the book. But hey, I'm not the director or in charge of the budget. That is the other thing to consider, budget. They didn't have big budgets back then and this was what they got for their budget. All in all, I enjoyed the movie well enough. I would enjoy seeing a remake with some better details, more representative of the book. Still an OK movie though.

I remember seeing this movie years ago. It was based on the book, which was a true story. However, it is true that when Europeans came along, they did bring along diseases, and sadly enough murdered innocent natives. Those people tried hard to defend their territory, but were outnumbered. This movie tells the story of a girl who survived after her tribe left the island. It's too sad to think about much more. I would only recommend it if you like true stories about history. Otherwise, all you will see is a lot of people dying, and sad stuff along the way.