Most of "Island of Lost Men" is atmospheric in stupendous black and white with sharp silhouettes and its over-the-top demeanor in terms of style matches Naish's performance. Naish is the star of the show, stealing every scene (even from Anna May Wong who is more passive than usual) with unrepentant glee (it must have been stipulated in his contract). Anthony Quinn also plays an Asian, in this case a slave working for Prin who is actually a secret agent - he is also Anna's lover! Broderick Crawford is fantastically colorful and memorably slimy as an American named Tex who blackmails and manipulates to his heart's content - he wants that money for himself. Tex's final scene doesn't make much sense but neither does most of "Island of Lost Men."
The film is a curious noir-jungle-swamp tale that includes some oddities (like the monkey who can pinpoint danger when convenient) yet it never is coherent in its overall approach ("Island" is an apparently loose remake of 1933's "White Woman.") When the few good guys survive by leaving this jungle unscathed with a boat full of gas, there are no reaction shots from the survivors - just merely a glimpse of the boat fading to the Paramount Pictures logo. The whole thing is a shambles but a sporadically diverting shambles nonetheless.
