The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977) Information

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977) is the second English-language movie version of the H. G. Wells science fiction novel of the same name, a story of a scientist who attempts to convert animals into people. The film stars Burt Lancaster, Michael York, Nigel Davenport, Barbara Carrera, and Richard Basehart.

Synopsis

Crewman Andrew Braddock (York) survives the wreck of the sailing ship The Lady Vain. After several days at sea in a lifeboat, he reaches the shores of an island governed by the mysterious scientist "Dr. Moreau" (Lancaster). Besides Moreau, the inhabitants of the island include Moreau's associate, Dr. Montgomery (Davenport); his deformed servant, M'Ling (Cravat); and a young woman named Maria (Carrera).

Though welcomed as an honored guest by Moreau, Braddock finds his contact with the natives increasingly disturbing, for they are not like any men he has ever seen. Eventually, it becomes apparent that these "men" are, in fact, the hybrid products of Moreau's experiments upon various species of wild animals. Braddock finds himself threatened by both the "manimals" and the sinister Moreau.

Moreau has established rules for his creations, including the rule not to kill. The man-beasts adopt these rules as their own. After one of the man-beasts (Demura) attacks an animal, Moreau intends to take it to the "house of pain", his laboratory, as punishment. The man-beast panics and runs. Braddock finds it in the jungle, badly injured, where it begs him to kill it rather than return it to the lab. Braddock shoots it, angering the man-beasts, as Braddock has broken the law of killing.

Convinced that Moreau is insane, Braddock plans to leave the island with Maria, with whom he has developed a mutual attraction. They are caught however, and Moreau straps Braddock in his lab. Montgomery objects and Moreau kills him in cold blood.

The man-beasts become angry because Moreau has broken the very rule he expected them to follow. Moreau injects Braddock with a serum that gives him animal characteristics. Braddock becomes more animalistic yet struggles to maintain his humanity. The man-beasts storm the compound and Moreau is killed trying to whip his attackers into submission. Braddock, Maria, and M'Ling engineer an escape, but the compound is burned and most of the man-beasts are killed by the wild animals which Moreau kept for his experiments. M'Ling is also killed in the final escape, sacrificing himself to save his companions from a lioness.

Braddock and Maria manage to sail away in the lifeboat that Braddock arrived in, but only after a bloody battle with one of the last man-beasts. Braddock kills it with a broken oar. Some time later, they are rescued by a passing ship, and the serum has worn off, returning Braddock to his full human state. It appears that Maria, too, is returning to her true nature.

Main cast

Actor	Role
Burt Lancaster	Dr. Paul Moreau
Michael York	Andrew Braddock
Nigel Davenport	Dr. Montgomery
Barbara Carrera	Maria
Richard Basehart	Sayer of the Law
Nick Cravat	M'Ling
Fumio Demura	Hyenaman

Casting

Lancaster has been described as perfectly matching Wells' description of Moreau's physical appearance, unlike the other two actors to play the role on screen, Charles Laughton in 1932's Island of Lost Souls and Marlon Brando in 1996's The Island of Dr. Moreau. York's portrayal of Braddock was also heavily praised.

Filming

The movie was filmed in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Reception

Upon its original release, the film received mixed reviews. It currently holds 47% on Rotten Tomatoes and 4.9 on IMDb.