Figure 1.--Richard and Emmeline are seen here before the ship wreck in their heavy Edwardian outfits. They and an eldely cook were the only survivors.

Irish writer, H. de Vere Stacpoole, wrote a romantic novel in 1907, The Blue Lagoon: A Romance. It proved to be a great success and was made into several film versions. Stacpoole's father was a doctor of divinity at Trinity College and the headmaster of Kingstown School. He died when his son was only 7 yeras old. The novel has been made into several movie versions. The 1980 version was a Chris Atkins epic and starred him and Brooke Shield. The plot is about two ship wrecked children who grow to adolescence on a remote Pacific island. The only survivors of a ship wreck are two children, Dicky and Emmeline) and the ship's cook. They are washed up on a remote, but beautiful, deserted island in the Pacific Ocean. The cook an old man dies, leaving the boy and girl alone to fend for themselves. They quickly manage to deal with therir starnge new enviroment. They use survival techniques the cook taught them before he died. As time passes the innocent children mature and without realizing what has happened, Emmeline becomes pregnant and has a baby which forces the new parents to grow up There is a lovely short introduction with Chris and Brooke Shields as children, both on the beach and underwater. Before the shipwreck the children are pictured in Edwardian outfits. Actually the costumers here could only guess as their clothing is not mentioned in the novel. They decided to base the outfits on the Edwardian styles popular at the time that the novel was written. After the ship wreck, there is no longer any fashionable costumes as the children soon discard and grow out iof their heavy Edwardian outfists. Randal Kleiser made this version in 1979 and it was released in the summer of 1980. The script is generally disappoinging, especially when compared the classic book, as is the acting. The scenery shot at Yasawa Islands (Fiji) is undeniably spectacular. The theme music is "Emmeline" named after the main character, played by Brooke Shields.

Created: October 2, 2002
Last updated: October 2, 2003