Island of Love (Warner Bros.) (1963)

— PUBLICITY ‘Island Of Love’ Loaded With Laughs Capturing the contagious romantic aura of the sun-drenched Aegean island, luggage-laden Robert Preston and Tony Randall follow a bikini-clad lass in this scene typical of the comedy capers in “Island of Love,” the Warner Bros. Technicolor film opening ..... Lethe at Lc eee ae Theatre. Georgia Mo!l and Walter Matthau co-star with Preston and Randall in the laugh-loaded comic tale of a con man and his accomplice who attempt to elude a New York gang lord by hiding on a Greek Island. Morton DaCosta produced and directed the film on location in Athens and the Aegean. Mat 2-D_ Still No. 463/51 An Island Of Love’ Poses Unromantic Transport Problem Not only was a goodly portion of the human population of the Aegean island of Hydra drafted for small roles and crowd scenes in “Island of Love,” the Warner Bros, romantic comedy opening ........ atthe sects Theatre, but producer-director Morton DaCosta was also forced to requisition the island’s entire donkey population. Hydra has no automotive vehicles to speak of. And they would have been of little help in any event since the quaint little port is built like a vast amphitheatre, rising up from the sea. All 142 of the island’s donkeys were needed to haul the film unit’s cumbersome equipment up the precipitous streets for location shooting. Robert Preston, Tony Randall, Georgia Moll and Walter Matthau are top cast in “Island of Love,” which was filmed in Technicolor and Panavision. ‘Island Of Love’ Cast Sails Away At the end of the first week of filming “Island of Love,” the delightful Warner Bros. comedy opening. ..at the... Theatre, on location on the Greek is!and of Hydra in the Aegean, the cast and crew had yet to travel to their various daily locations by land. Every location was either off the island or on some part of the island that could only be reached by boat. So daily, producer-director Morton DaCosta herded stars Robert Preston, Tony Randall, Georgia Moll and Walter Matthau on a small boat, loaded his equipment on an LST and set sail. “Island of Love” is a Be!grave Enterprises production in Technicolor and Panavision scripted by David R. Schwartz from a_ novel by Leo Katcher. Betty Bruce, Vassili Lambrinos, Michael Constantine, Titos Vandis, Miranda Murat, Lewis Charles and Peter Mamakos are featured in the supporting cast. Screen Glows Brightly As Preston, Randall Cut-Up In Colorful ‘Island Of Love’ Comedy Greek Art Frankly Creates A Crisis On ‘Island Of Love’ Aside from the unparallelled Aegean sunshine, the sea as blue as delphinium, the rocky hillsides splashed with white-washed houses and an over-all aura of irresistible romance, one of producer-director Morton DaCosta’s reasons for filming “Island of Love” on location in Greece and on the island of Hydra was to take advantage of the abundant Greek temples, decorative friezes and statues to lend authenticity to the gay Warner Bros. comedy, open(Yar ee at theres dock Theatre. DaCosta wound up, however, not only transporting tons of equipment, his four stars—Robert Preston, Tony Randall, Georgia Moll and Walter Matthau, along with an impressive roster of supporting players to the island of Hydra, but also virtually carrying coals to Newcastle. The Warner Bros. craft shops had to create and ship to Hydra an ancient Shrine of Love, innumerable statues and a variety of other set pieces. DaCosta, while doing considerable research on ancient Greek temples and works of art, discovered that a good deal of the Greek art and architecture that he had planned to use as backgrounds would have had to been censored from the film. Robert Preston Frolics Anew As Personable Fast-Talker In Laugh-Loaded ‘Island Of Love’ That nimble-footed slicker from “The Music Man” is at it again—only this time he’s 50 years and 9,000 miles away from the scene of his original triumph in River City, Iowa. It’s the stage and screen’s favorite “con artist”—Robert Preston—turning an Aegean island on its ear in “Island of Love,” the hilarious Warner Bros. romantic comedy opening .......... in Panavision and Technicolor. Preston sums up his new film, which co-stars Tony Randall, Georgia Moll and Walter Matthau, this way: “It’s about this fast-talking fellow who makes a bum movie with two million dollars that he’s conned from a gangster and has to lam all the way to a Greek Island to avoid a sawed-off shotgun.” Preston confesses that he’s delighted with the fact that he seems to be bigger than ever on his second time around in Hollywood—especially in view of the fact that 10 years ago he was stuck playing heroes in “B” pictures and heavies in “A” films. Born in Newton Highlands, Mass., Preston was only two when his family moved to Los Angeles. His interest in theatre was inspired by his high school drama teacher and he left school at 15 to join a touring stock company headed by the mother of Tyrone Power. When a_ boxoffice slump hit the troupe after six months he returned to Los Angeles, worked as a parking lot attendant at Santa Anita race track and became friendly with a group of Pasadena Playhouse students. After winning a role in an open audition he appeared in 42 plays in the next two years. Snapped up by a Paramount talent scout, Preston was soon on his way to an impressive movie career. After serving in the Air Force from 1942-46 he returned to Hollywood for five years, before leaving to make his Broadway debut in “Twentieth Century.” Preston Cons Again In ‘Island Of Love’ Robert Preston, Tony Randall, Georgia Moll and Walter Matthau star in “Island of Love,” the rollicking Warner Bros. comedy hit opening oer at the ...... Theatre. Morton DaCosta produced and directed the Technicolor-Panavision film on location in Athens and the Aegean islands to capture authentic backgrounds for the brightly-paced account of the exploits of a fast-talking con man who attempts to escape from a mobster he has swindled by hiding out on a remote Greek island. Siete, GE tHe +e cow Theatre Native Neighbors Gawk-And-Talk At Island Of Love’ Stars’ Antics The stunningly beautiful and quaintly charming Greek island of Hydra is not only the Aegeam’s busiest and bikiniest resort, but also, according to the bemused stars and producer-director of “Island of Love,” the rollicking Warner Bros. comedy filmed there in Technicolor and Panavision, Europe’s best bet for top honors in “instant communications.” Robert Preston, Tony Randall, Georgia Moll and Walter Matthau, who Georgia Moll, Walter Matthau Are Co-Starred In DaCosta’s Comic Romantic Aegean Romp Setting a rousing rollicking pace as a fast-talking con man and his sad-eyed, fast-writing but slightly dipso side-kick, Robert Preston and Tony Randall head the cast of “Island of Love,” the colorful Warner Bros. comedy caper opening ........ WUE 8 aS. Theatre. Lovely Georgia Moll and Broadway’s Walter Matthau co-star in the Belgrave Enterprises production produced and directed by Morton DaCosta. In “Island of Love,” Preston persuades a New York gang lord to invest $2,000,000 in a lavish film about Adam and Eve, starring the mobster’s girl friend — an exPreston, Moll Star stripper. When the film flops, Preston and Randall find it expedient to flee the city and hope to elude the angry underworld by hiding out on an island in the Aegean. Since most of the film is taken up with Preston’s subsequent scheme to convert the island of Hydra into the legendary “Island of Love,” producerdirector DaCosta took his cast and crew to Athens, Hydra and_ the neighboring island of Spetse. He surrounded them with a vivid collection of Greek performers and bathed his scenes in sun-drenched Aegean beauty. Whenever possible, authentic settings were used—but DaCosta soon discovered that when it came to love, the Greeks not only had a word for it, but also some very frank statues of it. To avert censorship problems, a series of less “adult” statues and temple decorations were built by Warner Bros. studio crafts An exuberant Robert Preston swings his lovely bride-to-be, Georgia Moll, into the air in this | ™@?be light-hearted scene from “Island In “Island of Love” Preston plays of Love,” the sun-drenched War @ dashing romantic con man remi % ot ae os ee : ner Bros. romantic comedy openMe title es in — a ing sos .. atthe ...... Theatre. “42, which won him Internationa Tony Randall and Walter Mat @¢¢laim. “The two characters are, thau are also starred in the *“0Wever’” points out Preston, “separTechnicolor-Panavision film proated by 50 years and 9000 miles. duced and directed by Morton Tony Randall, who confesses he DaCosta on location in Greece had sworn never to take another and Wie Aegean Sear David “Tony Randall” role—the perennial Schwartz based his screenplay on pet raat of the cine — 2 story ty Leon Raviee: y with a humorous drinking problem Mat 1-4 Still No. 463/6 and perpetually poised on the brink ; : i of disaster, relented one more time to join in the Aegean antics. Peripatetic Georgia Moll, a luscious Italian lass who speaks fluent French, German, Spanish, Russian and slightly accented English as well as her native Italian, was discovered as an observer at the Actors Studio in New York by DaCosta when he returned discouraged after four months of searching Italy, Greece and France for just the right girl. Hor fresh loveliness is a perfect contrast to the glib sophistication of star in the Morton DeCosta production, which opens ...............-. at Preston’s con man. the retest Theatre, report that if Preston got up to do the Twist at the popular Kastela night club, the whole town knew about it before the dance was over. The fact of the matter was, Preston, Randall and gorgeous Georgia all did the Twist during several weeks of location shooting on Hydra. Once the sun and the imported are lights had been turned off for the day, and the hard-working donkeys tucked in their stalls, the troupe could be found in open air cafes, on the terrace of the Hotel Xenia or on somebody else’s terrace. But nowhere were they able to escape the all-seeing eyes and non-stop tongues of 3000 curious Hydriots. Hydra is custom-built for peeking and peering. The houses and hotels rise in tiers from the port like loges in a theatre, and from every balcony spreads a clear view of the goings-on below. When natural eye-sight fails, the resourceful Hydriot produces a pair of binoculars. “These people knew what I was going to wear in the morning before I did myself,” smiles luscious Italian beauty Georgia Moll ruefully. Eyebrows arching to his hairline, Preston reports that “an old man in a fishing boat asked me how I liked the lamb I had for dinner the night before!” “They knew who my guests were, what kind of wine I served them and what time they went home,” adds Randall. DaCosta is convinced that “they knew the color of my sheets, the price of shorts—and had a fairly accurate estimate of the freckle count on my Matthau, who left his starring role in Broadway’s “A Shot in the Dark” to portray the blustering gang-lordwith-a-lisp, boasts what is probably the screen’s most amusing bodyguard —four identical-looking hoods dressed in black Brooks Brothers suits, homburgs and pink shirts. Stars Trapped On ‘Island Of Love’ nose. But most actors are accustomed to playing love scenes—and intricate dramatic scenes—in view of the whole world. We got accustomed to having a few thousand Greeks watching while we did the Twist or brushed our teeth.” As an irrepressibly optimistic con artist, Robert Preston attempts to humor his gun-shy side-kick, Tony Randall, when they are forced to hide out in a cellar to escape the wrath of a New York gang lord who has traced them to their Aegean island hideaway in “Island of Love,” the rousing Warner Bros. romantic comedy opening ......... Fok or | 7: ea Theatre. Morton DaCosta produced and directer “Island of Love” principally on location in Athens and on the islands of Hydra and Spetse. Georgia Moll and Walter Matthau are co-starred in the Technicolor-Panavision film. Mat 2-B_ Still No. 463/82 PAGE 3