SOS Pacific (1959)

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

SOS Pacific is directed by Guy Green and adapted to screenplay by Robert Westerby from a story by Gilbert Travers Thomas and Bryan Forbes inputs additional dialogue and scenes. It stars Richard Attenborough, Pier Angeli, Eddie Constantine, John Gregson, Eva Bartok, Gunnar Möller, Clifford Evans, Jean Anderson, Harold Kasket and Cec Linder. Music is by Georges Auric and cinematography by Wilkie Cooper.When a flying boat encounters mid-air troubles it has to emergency land near an island in the Pacific. Apparently uninhabited, the island, as the survivors are soon to find out, has something shocking in store for all.A little British cracker, SOS Pacific might be out dated now with its big reveal of theme, but it's a perfect example of how to make a tight thriller on a modest budget. It's very much a film of two halves. The first half plays out as a disaster movie, here we are introduced to the folk who will ultimately make up the survivors on the island. It's a roll call of stock formula characters; a tough copper and his cheeky but hero-in-waiting prisoner, a good time girl, the weasel loose cannon who is also an informer, a prim and proper lady, a German physicist, the stoic and beautiful stewardess and the pilot with a drink problem! Familiar characters to a degree, but well blended and fleshed out by the astute Guy Green (A Patch of Blue) who deftly piles tension on top of tension with each passage of story.After the back stories involve us we then get the mid-air dramatics and the surprise that's awaiting us all on the island. Once there the characters shift in tone, they have to for various reasons, and then we are treated to heroics, suspicions, sacrifices, fights, hysteria and a thrilling "ticking clock" type finale. Wilkie Cooper's (I See A Dark Stranger/Green For Danger) black and white photography accentuates the sweaty atmospheric mood, and Auric (The Innocents) scores it in 2 x 2 thriller/drama fashion. Cast performances are uniformly good, with the stand outs being Constantine who makes for a good Bondian type alpha male, Attenborough a telling slime-ball and the gorgeous Angeli as the pivotal lady of the piece.Some of the dialogue is twee and the model work is not high grade stuff, while unlikely coincidences are evident throughout, but this is definitely worth seeking out by anyone interested in tight and taut British thrillers. 7.5/10

This is a very under-rated film which sets off at a good pace, and gathers momentum as the story progresses. As suspense thrillers go, it's hard to beat, and is helped in no small way by terrific playing from a top class ensemble cast. Special mention must go to Richard Attenborough as the oily, sly grass. Attenborough simply oozes slime in the role, and demonstrates yet again what a very fine actor he is. Pier Angeli, Eddie Constantine and John Gregson are all uniformly excellent as well. It's a film that never seems to receive regular airings, which is a pity as it is well worth seeing and is highly recommended. The location scenes are good, and the direction and cinematography are first rate too. The film really is a long lost gem!

I'm a little surprised at the positive comments posted about this film. Anti-climax after anti-climax is what I remember from seeing it as a 12-year-old in 1964. When the the actual climax came along, my buddy and I laughed out loud. Sure, Pier Angeli was good-looking and her character good-hearted. But Eddie Constantine was much better playing his Lemmy Caution character than he was in this picture. I've certainly seen worse films, but SOS Pacific is memorable to me only because of how lousy I thought it was at the time. Far-fetched plot, low-budget set, B-list cast, predictable directing... not much to recommend. (It was on a double bill with the original McHale's Navy movie, which wasn't very good, either, but Captain Binghamton was a dead ringer for my junior high school principal.)

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...