The Islanders

1960

Seasons & Episodes

  • 1

EP2 Flight From Terror Oct 09, 1960

EP22 Island Witness Feb 26, 1961

6.1| 0h30m| en
Synopsis

The Islanders is an American adventure television series which aired on ABC from 1960 to 1961, starring William Reynolds, James Philbrook, and Diane Brewster. At the beginning of the series, Sandy Wade and Zack Malloy, co-owners of a Grumman Goose amphibious aircraft, start their one-plane airline in the Moluccas or Spice Islands of the southeastern Pacific Ocean. Throughout the series they experience a variety of adventures where seemingly harmless charter flights put them into danger. They are frequently aided in their endeavours by the unusually-named Wilhelmina ”Steamboat Willy” Vanderveer and Shipwreck Callighan. The Islanders, primarily sponsored by Liggett & Myers' Chesterfield cigarettes, aired at 9:30 Eastern time on Sunday evenings opposite The Jack Benny Program and Candid Camera on CBS and the second half of The Dinah Shore Show and the last season of The Loretta Young Show on NBC. William Reynolds stated in an interview, "The series went from being sort of like a Terry and the Pirates or a Maverick type of concept to becoming just a bunch of people skulking around. It wasn't very good." After The Islanders, Philbrook co-starred in the 1962-1963 season as a magazine publisher and the love interest of Loretta Young in her short-lived The New Loretta Young Show, which aired Mondays on CBS. Reynolds went on to star in two other ABC series,The Gallant Men, a World War II series, and The FBI with Efrem Zimbalist, Jr..

Director

Producted By

MGM Television

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Reviews

ada the leading man is my tpye
Cleveronix A different way of telling a story
Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
Cheyenne-Bodie Sandy Wade (William Reynolds) and Zack Malloy (James Philbrook) were adventurers in the Spice Islands of the East Indies. Sandy and Zack started a business by buying a beautiful airplane that could land in water ("The Duck"). The boys' nemesis and sometimes partner was the lovely Steamboat Willy (Diane Brewster), who was something of a confidence woman.Sandy, Zack and Steamboat Willy spent a lot of time hanging around Shipwreck Callahan's bar, waiting for business.This series was MGM's answer to "Adventures in Paradise". "The Islanders" had a great Howard Hawks type set-up. You could imagine Cary Grant, Spencer Tracy and Rosalind Russell as the leads in a Hawks film with a similar premise. The execution of this adventure series was competent but not inspired. But the three actors were extremely attractive and appealing. All three had star potential.William Reynolds had already played the title role in "Pete Kelly's Blues" and would star a year later as Captain Jim Benedict in "The Gallant Men". Reynolds finally wound up as Efrem Zimbalist's partner on "The FBI" for six years.James Philbrook would go on to star in "The Investigators" with James Franciscus and co-star in "The New Lorreta Young Show". He then mysteriously disappeared from television. I think he headed for Europe.Diane Brewster had previously played Samantha Crawford on "Maverick" and "Cheyenne", a character similar to Steamboat Willy. Diane was also excellent as Paul Newman's mother in "The Young Philadelphians", a year before starting this series. Diane went on to play Helen Kimble on "The Fugitive".Gena Rowlands and Darren McGavin guest starred in one episode. Other guest stars included Peter Falk, Leslie Nielsen, E.G. Marshall and Sebastian Cabot.Richard Bare directed the pilot. Bare had also previously directed William Reynolds in a memorable "Twilight Zone" with Dick York. That "Twilight Zone" was probably William Reynolds finest performance. He played a WWII platoon leader who could foresee which of his men would die in battle. He finally foresees his own death.William Reynolds and Richard Bare were in a plane crash, when flying home from making the pilot for "The Islanders". They were both out in the water hoping to be rescued. Bare jokingly asked Reynolds if he was going to survive. Reynolds humored him by saying yes. Thankfullly, they both did survive.