Prismark10 This is a glorified soap opera, in fact the film reminded me rather a lot of 1980s US soap operas such as Flamingo Road or Falcon Crest.This is a British/US co-production set in a fictional West Indian island about to gain independence from the UK. Harry Belafonte is the charismatic and aspiring politician who is set to become the leader of the independent island but is having a romance with a white woman played by Joan Fontaine.James Mason plays the bitter son of a plantation family, denied the chance of getting educated in England and realizing that the family will lose power and privilege post independence, his temper also gets the better of him.Dorothy Dandridge is stunning as the local beauty having a romance with a Governor's aides who is white. A risqué relationship at the time.John Williams is the astute Police Inspector diligently investigating the murder of a white drifter and does not let prejudice get in the way of his investigations.The film is daring for its time in depicting inter racial romance. You have dark secrets, the shock of mixed race ancestry but the film also looks naive as well. Post colonial politics was a lot more hard edged than this film shows, the white on black racism is very much hidden in this film and the shock of having some black blood in your family ancestry looks bewildering today although during that time it might have been positively shocking.It is very much a soap opera type melodrama. John Williams is the standout, James Mason is rather conniving and Belafonte even gets to sing a song.

Syl This all-star cast can't help the weak script here. The cast is stunning with Harry Belafonte and Joan Fontaine together in Pre-Civil Rights era days. The story takes set on a fictional island called Santa Marta where the whites are the wealthy plantation owners like the Fleurys. Joan Collins is fine here. Diana Wynyard is stunning as the matriarch of the family. The film circulates around the whites liked the Fleurys and the blacks on the island. Dorothy Dandridge has a supporting role. Actors like Stephen Boyd and James Mason are also here. The film never really develops or becomes memorable besides the cast. In it's time, it was controversial to see inter-racial relations. Despite the weaknesses, the film is beautifully shot but I don't know the actual location. Still the costumes and art direction are first and the cast is all-star.

MarieGabrielle This film, having been made in 1957 has a very intriguing and slanted portrayal of a wealthy plantation owner (well-portrayed by James Mason) and a few over-privileged white women (Joan Fontaine, Joan Collins and her vapid mother, who owns a large estate).Harry Belafonte is wonderful as the West Indies native of this fictional island. He (ostensibly) is pursued by Fontaine, but rejects her world. Why is her American world supposed to be considered so ideal?. Well, this was written in 1957.Having lived in South Florida, and traveled, in this day and age a story regarding poverty wages and slave labor would be much starker and realistic. Sugar cane plantations still exist to this day, in Belle Glade, and the Everglades area. A story we rarely hear about, unfortunately.This film is worth watching for the hypocrisy of the time, as a curiosity piece. I also consider the Lana Turner film ("Imitation of Life")to fall into the category of denial and repression of human rights, which still exist in America to this day. 8/10.

Nicholas Rhodes Much as I loved the sets on this one, much as I adore the Calypso music of Harry Belafonte, and much as I liked the choice of actors, the script/plot of this film was absolutely hopeless and boring from beginning to end ! We get one murder, a couple of semblants of romance, then a pairing off of Harry Belafonte with a white woman which obviously isn't going to work. All this isn't really very interesting, I would have thought that using Harry Belafonte, Michael Rennie, James Mason, Stephen "Polar Bear" Boyd with his funny half-Irish accent and others would have made for a better script but no !I thought the murder episode pretty pathetic and unconvincing, I don't care much for interracial romances and there doesn't really seem to be much passion in this film. The saving graces are the beautiful décors, the scenes from the sugar plantations and the irresistible music of Belafonte. There's no spice, no passion, no heat, no memorable scenes. You sit through the film and by the time you get to the end you say "so that was it !!!". And wonder why you just wasted your time. Even the film "Hawaii" as better than this and slightly more passionate !