TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES PRESENTS
3:00 a.m. (ET)/12:00 a.m.
(PT) THE BLUE LAGOON (1980)
In 1980, Columbia
Pictures released The Blue Lagoon, a coming-of-age tale
about two children
who grow to adulthood while shipwrecked on a tropical desert
island. Based on a
novel by Henry De Vere Stacpoole, it marked the third time
the story had been
translated onto film; earlier versions were released in 1923
and 1949. The 1980
interpretation, however, was the only one to earn an R
rating! Due to its
frequent use of nudity and adult themes, the film earned such
rave reviews as this
one by Leonard Maltin: ". . .little more than soft-core cinema
for the heavy petting
set." But the heavy petting set turned out in droves to see
two of the most
popular teen actors of the time frolic about in loincloths and little
else.
Brooke Shields and
Christopher Atkins played the young couple and Randal
Kleiser, who directed
the wildly successful Grease two years previously, was more
than prepared to
handle the film's 4.5 million dollar budget. Shields, known for
her eyebrows and
eye-popping Calvin Klein jeans ads, was the obvious draw for
the film. She started
out as an Ivory soap baby in commercials when she was only
an infant, and by
1978 found herself in Louis Malle's Pretty Baby in the
controversial role of
a 12-year old prostitute. Shields largely retreated from films
soon after The
Blue Lagoon and focused on her collegiate studies and television.
From 1996-2000 she
had her own television series, Suddenly Susan.
Christopher Atkins,
by comparison, had a much shorter run: The Blue Lagoon was
his first film, but
due to his natural good looks and heavy publicity efforts he
became a sexy teen
idol overnight. His next feature, The Pirate Movie (1982), was
a musical comedy
"inspired" by Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance,
and co-starred Kristy
McNichol. It enjoyed some success as a cult film. A turn on
the TV series Dallas
followed (1983-84), and after that Atkins saw his career
deteriorate into a
series of B-movies like Shakma (1990) featuring a killer baboon.
Leo McKern, who plays
a crusty cook shipwrecked with the children, perhaps
enjoyed the greatest
success playing the title character in the Rumpole of the
Bailey
television series, which enjoyed a long, transatlantic run in the seventies
and eighties.
The Blue Lagoon
was shot in various locations including Fiji and Jamaica. From
the beginning, there
were numerous obstacles to overcome in production. Many
of the cast and crew
were afflicted with tropical ulcers, topical formations from cuts
on the organic coral.
Persistent winds as well as numerous action sequences
meant that Shields
had to paste her hair to her breasts to hide her nudity.
When shooting began
on Turtle Island in Fiji, it was Winter on the island - so
leaves that had turned
brown during the season had to be spray painted green.
Furthermore, the
owner of the island was originally from Oregon and, obviously
feeling nostalgic for
his homeland, had planted pine trees all over the area.
Nestor Almendros, the
cinematographer, had to go to great lengths to ensure
none of the
evergreens turned up in the frame. . . they weren't exactly native
plants.
Almendros, nominated
for his work in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Sophie's
Choice (1982),
and a winner for Best Cinematography in 1979 for Days of Heaven
(1978), had his work
cut out for him in The Blue Lagoon. In addition to the less
than optimal
conditions, the novel's author, Stacpoole, provided very specific
details regarding the
island and its animal inhabitants. A ship's surgeon for over
forty years,
Stacpoole was an expert on the South Sea Islands. Almendros' heady
task of recreating
the paradise visually was accomplished; the film is full of lush
landscape shots and
exotic animal and insect close-ups. Almendros' efforts did not
go unnoticed; he was
again nominated for an Oscar for his work in this film in
1980. The rest of the
cast and crew, however, did not fare as well. Christopher
Atkins was nominated
for a Golden Globe, but the only winner turned out to be
Shields. She won a
1981 Razzie award for Worst Actress. Campy and pubescently
erotic, The Blue
Lagoon might not be a worthy Academy Award contender but it
certainly ranks high
as a Guilty Pleasure for many moviegoers.
C-104m. Letterboxed.
By Eleanor Quin