LURE OF THE ISLANDS

Robert Lowery and Margie Hart

LURE OF THE ISLANDS (1942). Director: Jean Yarbrough.  

During WW2 two American agents -- Wally (Robert Lowery of Sensation Hunters) and Jinx (Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams) -- are told by the skipper (Tristram Coffin) to swim to a Tropical island paradise that may be a nest of Axis agents. There the boys encounter two women: Brooklyn-born Tana (Margie Hart), who hopes Wally will marry her and take her back to the U.S.; and Maui (Gale Storm of Nearly Eighteen), who is only interested in Jinx when Tana fibs that he's a pig millionaire. In this not terribly serious "war" film with song numbers, the foursome have to deal with a Nazi commandant (Ivan Lebedeff) and some Japanese who hope to turn the island into their base. 

Williams and Storm

Margie Hart was a burlesque stripper -- a competitor of Gypsy Rose Lee's -- who tried to kickstart a movie career by starring in this Monogram cheapie, which throws in everything but the kitchen sink. Unfortunately, Hart proved to be barely adequate as an actress. Although she later took acting lessons and did some theater, Lure of the Islands was her first and last movie. However, this is the kind of schlock that Lowery, Williams and Storm could probably do in their sleep, and they make a better impression. Hart warbles the pretty title tune (although she may have been dubbed) and Gale does a very cute number entitled "My Tahiti Sweetie" that boasts some clever and amusing lyrics. Kahala and Odetta Bray are the pretty native dancers and singers. 

Verdict: Another weird low-budget melange from Monogram. **1/2.