Gilligan's Island forerunner 1939 FIVE CAME BACK

[Smilings]

Lucille Ball got a boost up in her career playing the sexy gold-digger with a shady past.
There's a wayward pilot and co-pilot.
There's a rich playboy socialite couple.
There's even a character called the Professor!

The story is a plane goes down in Amazon jungle.
They are stuck for weeks as they try to fix the plane.
There's plenty of fruit and game to stay them alive.
Then hostile natives with blow darts start closing in.

As the original taglines put it:
CRASH LANDING in the HEADHUNTER'S JUNGLE!
Five can escape in the crippled plane!
It's roaring adventure!
DRUMS OVER THE AMAZON!

It's a fun movie.

[gilligan fanatic]

I haven't seen that before, I am going to have to check it out

[Smilings]

It's an early disaster movie.

A couple makes noble sacrifice giving up rescue like on Titanic.

There's also a transported criminal.

I think it would've gotten more attention but it came out in 1939. The start of WWII in Europe. And the greatest year for film in history.

You won't be sorry checking it out.

[damon strong]

Five Came Back is a good film, but I prefer the 1950s remake called Back From Eternity with Anita Ekberg, Robert Ryan and Rod Steiger.

[Smilings]

It's the same story as FIVE CAME BACK with even many of the same character names.

It was also the 1956 film debut of Barbara Eden in an uncredited role as a photo-journalist.


Look at Anita Ekberg. She's a blonde but they made her a redhead like Lucille Ball and Tina Louise.

[king of comedy]

Originally Posted by Smilings

It's the same story as FIVE CAME BACK with even many of the same character names.

It was also the 1956 film debut of Barbara Eden in an uncredited role as a photo-journalist.


Look at Anita Ekberg. She's a blonde but they made her a redhead like Lucille Ball and Tina Louise.

I'll take a look at both of them. I never knew that they got the idea for the show.

[Smilings]

It's the same story as FIVE CAME BACK.

They made a big deal out of Anita Ekberg's character being a sexpot flirting with guys to get what she wants.

In fact, she's billed as the second lead. (Maybe this is why Tina Louise got the idea she was to be the star attraction.)

Like Ginger, there's that evening gown in the jungle thing.

Anita is physically as pretty as anyone but Tina Louise is a much more attractive actress.

And there's also a Tina-Mary Ann rivalry. The comely Phyllis Kirk (Superman's Lois Lane) plays the nice girl. Even wears checks like Mary Ann.

At one point, they have a good old-fashioned catfight down by the water.

[NEVERexistd]

Is there proof this was motivation for GI?

[Smilings]

To be fair, Sherwood Schwartz does not mention FIVE CAME BACK in his wonderful book INSIDE GILLIGAN'S ISLAND.

But here are three pop culture references, certainly not authoritative.

FROM IMDB Gilligan's Island trivia...
Partly inspired by the 1939 film Five Came Back starring Lucille Ball. The characters in that film included a wayward pilot and co-pilot, a botanist and his wife, a sultry woman with a shady past, and a rich playboy and his homespun wife.

Wikipedia on Five Came Back...
The plot of Five Came Back inspired the Star Trek episode "The Galileo Seven" and also the film Pitch Black (2000). And also Gilligan's Island.

And here's an Amazon review...
4.0 out of 5 stars One of the first survivor films, December 4, 2011
By Dr. James Gardner (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Five Came Back [VHS] (VHS Tape)
"Five Came Back" is one of the first survivor films, although one can look at John Ford's "The Lost Patrol" (1934) and "Souls at Sea" (1937) starring Gary Cooper as having a similar theme. Basically, 9 passengers and 3 crew board a flight to Panama City, the plane crashes, and when repairs are made it can carry only 5 people - who will go and who will stay?

* Lovely Lucille Ball who plays a woman from the school of hard knocks

* The brave determined pilot/skipper played by Chester Morris

* The professor, played by C. Aubrey Smith or his dutiful wife (Elisabeth Risdon)

* The gangster (Allen Jenkins) who is escorting the son (Casey Johnson) of his crime boss

* The wealthy couple played by Patric Knowles and Wendy Barrie

* The mad anarchist (Joseph Calleia) who is being escorted by policeman John Carradine

(Fans of TV's Gilligan's Island will surely recognize many of these characters!)

[Loves Old Tv]

Originally Posted by Smilings

And there's also a Tina-Mary Ann rivalry. The comely Phyllis Kirk (Superman's Lois Lane) plays the nice girl. Even wears checks like Mary Ann.

Phyllis Coates was the one who played Lois Lane in the first season of the Superman TV series.

[Smilings]

I stand corrected.

Phyllis Kirk was Nora Charles on the Thin Man series with Peter Lawford.