Island of the Lost Movie Review

I spent forever trying to figure out the family relationships in this movie. Richard Greene (1914–85) is Josh MacRae, the father of Sharon (who looks 30), Stu (Luke Halpin, then 21), and Lizzie (Robin Mattson, 12). There is no mother. No one talks about Mother. There is, however, a lovely assistant named Judy Hawilani (Irene Tsu, 25) who doesn't appear to be involved with anyone in the family. Another assistant, Gabe Larsen (Mart Hulswit), appears out of nowhere, expressing incredulity about Josh's anthropological skills. Sharon and Gabe soon appear to be hitting on each other. There is also a native islander named Tupuna, played by dancer Jose De Vega (1934–90), one of West Side Story's Sharks. Tupuna and Judy soon appear to be hitting on each other. Josh, who fathered three kids (one every nine years), doesn't get to hit on anyone and neither do Stu and Lizzie. The family have “adventures” on an island. They look like stock footage adventures, but one of the credits says that Ralph Helfer was in charge of animal sequences. Does this mean that he pored over stock footage or actually coached a people-eating ostrich? The credits don't say. The credits do say that underwater sequences were directed in the Bahamas by producer Ricou Browning and photographed by Lamar Boram and Jordan Klein. Executive producer Ivan Tors worked on the story with Richard Carlson and Carlson received credit for the final screenplay. THE Richard Carlson (1912–77)? So why isn't he IN this movie? The whole shebang was filmed at Palm Beach Gardens and in Miami, Florida. I rented this thing when I was desperate on Thanksgiving Day, 1988. Was it ever released to theatres or broadcast on television? I haven't a clue, but learn from my mistake and DON'T RENT THIS TURKEY ON THANKSGIVING DAY! woof!

1968 92m/C GB Richard Greene, Luke Halpin, Mart Hulswit, Jose De Vega, Robin Mattson, Irene Tsu, Sheilah Wells; D: John Florea, Ricou Browning; W: Richard Carlson, Ivan Tors; C: Howard Winner; M: George Bruns. VHS