The Blue Lagoon

The Blue Lagoon (1949)

No one to see them... No one to tell them... No one to stand in their way!

In the Victorian period, two British children survive a shipwreck in the South Pacific. After days afloat, they are marooned on a lush tropical island in the company of kindly old sailor. Together they survive solely on their resourcefulness and the bounty of their remote paradise.

Date of release
1949-03-01
TMDB
5.9 / 10 (17)
Runtime
1h 41m
Genres
Drama, Romance
Director
Frank Launder

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: Pinewood Studios

The Blue Lagoon is a 1949 British coming-of-age romance and adventure film directed by Frank Launder, produced by Launder and Sidney Gilliat), and starring Jean Simmons and Donald Houston. The screenplay was adapted by John Baines, Michael Hogan, and Launder from the 1908 novel The Blue Lagoon by Henry De Vere Stacpoole. The original music score was composed by Clifton Parker. The cinematographer was Geoffrey Unsworth.

Production history

The film was an adaptation of a novel whose previous screen adaptation was completed for release in 1923, but it is the earliest surviving adaptation.

In 1928, Herbert Wilcox acquired the motion picture rights to the novel from I.W. Schlesinger to produce a remake. To eliminate competition with his film, Wilcox purchased all existing prints of the 1923 adaptation that weren't in circulation. A year later, he officially announced the inclusion of this project in his portfolio of motion pictures in production.

After a spectacular fire at the British and Dominions Imperial Studios on 9 February 1936 destroyed the last surviving print of the 1923 film, Wilcox lost interest in the project, and the rights were assumed by GFD's new sister company Gainsborough Pictures at the recommendation of Frank Launder, who always admired the novel. Gainsborough announced the film in 1938 as part of a slate of 10 films.

The project was reactivated after the war and announced in 1946, with Frank Launder attached to direct. Extensive location searches were undertaken before deciding to make the film in Fiji.

Plans to make the film were postponed due to Britain's currency difficulties, but eventually, plans were reactivated.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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