Acclaimed Flop: While receiving positive reviews, it failed to make a profit for African Film Productions.
Channel Hop: To recoup their costs, I.W. Schlesinger, who controlled African Film Productions, sold in 1928 the film and its subsequent rights to English filmmaker Herbert Wilcox.
Children Voicing Children: Molly Adair played the grown-up Emmeline at the age of seventeen during filming, the same age Emmeline was while giving birth in the book.
Creator Killer: The commercial failure of the movie led African Film Productions to discontinue fictional feature-length film production.
Missing Episode: No existing copies survive of that film. The last surviving copy was lost in a spectacular fire at the British and Dominions Imperial Studios in 1936.
Ability over Appearance: The novel indicates that the children were about sixteen or seventeen when they consummated their love and the girl became a mother about a year later. Jean Simmons and Donald Houston were nineteen and twenty-four respectively during filming.
California Doubling: The bulk of the film was done at the Yasawa Islands in Fiji. Some scenes were shot on sets at Pinewood Studios in England.
Dawson Casting: Donald Houston was 24 playing Michael Reynolds (Richard "Dicky" Lestrange in the book), who is about eighteen when he and Emmeline become parents.
Averted with Jean Simmons, who played 17-to-18-year-old Emmeline while giving birth and turned 19 during filming.
Executive Meddling: In the book, the original play, and the (now-lost) 1923 and 1980movie versions, Emmeline and Dick are Kissing Cousins. However, before its production, the filmmakers had to make several changes to adhere to The Hays Code. Joseph Breen, the head of the Production Code Administration, specified that the characters should not be related, the romance should involve adults, and there should be no explicit sex scenes, birth scenes, or depictions of parents' suicide. A wedding scene was added to the film to meet the code's requirements.
Keep Circulating the Tapes: It became this after a battle between The Rank Organisation and the estate of Henry De Vere Stacpoole over the film rights to the story. This prevented it from having a legitimate home video release. However, in 2022, the book where it was based on became a public domain story in the country where it was published, England and Wales*Stacpoole died in 1951, which could enable this film to be released appropriately on home video formats for the first time.
Saved from Development Hell: Herbert Wilcox bought the rights to the novel in 1928 and announced a year later that he would make it as part of a slate of films. Wilcox planned to cast Ramón Novarro and Louise Brooks in the leading roles. However, the onslaught of The Great Depression halted these plans. Wilcox restarted the project in 1935 and planned to cast either Joel McCrea or Richard Cromwell as the male lead and Anna Neagle, whose relationship with Wilcox began in 1931, as a probable female lead. It was going to be shot in color in Honolulu. If Neagle proved to be unavailable, Wilcox would consider casting Charlotte Henry, Hedy Lamarr, or even an unknown for the female lead. After a spectacular fire destroyed the negative print of the 1923 film he wanted to remake in 1936, he lost interest in the project and sold the rights to Gainsborough Pictures at the recommendation of Frank Launder, who always admired the novel. Gainsborough announced the film in 1938 as part of ten films. The stars were to be Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood, who had just appeared in Gainsborough's The Lady Vanishes; Will Fyffe was to co-star. In 1939, it was announced Gainsborough would make the film as a co-production with 20th Century Fox and that Lockwood and Redgrave would be joined by Richard Greene, under contract with Fox, going to play an adolescent version of the male lead. Linda Darnell, who was newly hired by Fox was to play an adolescent version of Emmeline, just like Brooke Shields in the 1980 film version, and Shirley Temple, also under contract with Fox, was to play a child version of Emmeline. This version was to be filmed using a triptych-structured narrative, a technique that was not fully realized until the French New Wave, and as an epic in the way Gone with the Wind was made in Hollywood. Howard Hawks and Carol Reed were considered for the directing job. Plans to make the film were postponed due to World War II. The project was reactivated in 1944 and announced two years later with Frank Launder attached to direct. Extensive location searches were undertaken before deciding to make the movie in Fiji. Plans to make the film were postponed due to Britain's currency difficulties, but eventually, plans were reactivated.
Star-Making Role: A very forgotten fact in the wake of this movie's success.
This is the movie that established Jean Simmons as a leading screen actress with a fully-fledged career of her own. Hamlet came close to doing this, but like all her movies before it, it was still technically a supporting role. After The Blue Lagoon became such a blockbuster hit, the tables turned, which led Simmons to a prolific career in Hollywood.
Donald Houston was a relatively unknown actor at the time when he was cast in the male lead, but the success of that film led him to a contract with The Rank Organisation and a very prolific acting career.
In December 1947, a light plane carrying Leslie Gilliat, the producer and brother of Sidney Gilliat, crashed into a river near Suva. Both Gilliat and the pilot escaped unharmed.
Some doubt arose that Jean Simmons would be allowed into Fiji, as she was only 18 when she came to that country from Australia, and the Fijian colonial regime was contemplating a ban on people under 19 into the country as a precaution against polio being introduced.
Houston and Simmons narrowly escaped injury in Fiji when their car overturned.
Almost every cast and crew member was injured filming on coral reefs in rough seas. The crew traveled from Lautoka to the Yasawa Islands via Australian motorboats. Jean Simmons and her wardrobe assistant, Irene Williams, initially had a cabin to themselves but later shared it with four crew members. Despite challenges, the director praised Jean's cooperation in an article. The production faced threats from mosquitos, sandflies, snakes, and sharks. While Jean was unharmed, Donald Houston was hospitalized for a severe injury from swimming through a rock-bound water chute, and Launder broke his wrist, requiring a sling. Various bugs also caused sickness among the crew. Storms caused the shooting in Fiji to take three months.
Before Jean Simmons was hired, the producers wanted to cast Shirley Temple as Emmeline. Having this been the case, it would be a Career Resurrection for Temple. However, the cost overruns from Caesar and Cleopatra prevented them from hiring a Hollywood-based actor. The executives at Rank toyed with the idea of casting Yvonne De Carlo, Betty Hutton, Glynis Johns, or Angela Lansbury in the female lead. RKO contract player Anne Jeffreys was approached, but the Hollywood studio would not loan her to Rank. Singer Rosemary Clooney (better known today as George Clooney's aunt) was approached but radio station WLW refused to release her to Rank. Paramount contract player Mona Freeman was approached, but Adolph Zukor refused to loan her to Rank. At one point, country singer Molly O'Day was approached, but she refused to travel to England.
Accidentally-Correct Writing: Acting example: Brooke Shields' airy and somewhat absentminded portrayal of Emmeline, one of the most criticized aspects of the movie, is actually accurate to Emmeline's personality in the book.
California Doubling: Some scenes were shot at the Jungle backlot at the Warner Bros. Burbank studios. It is worth noting that Warner and Columbia Pictures were joint owners of the Burbank studio from 1972 until 1990 when Columbia moved to the former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios.
Channel Hop: The project initially started at Mirisch Productions in the early 1960s with funding from United Artists. However, due to logistical issues caused by The Vietnam War, the project was delayed. In 1970, producer Ray Stark acquired the rights to the novel from Mirisch after the success of Paramount's Romeo and Juliet (1968) with funding from Columbia Pictures, whose executives agreed to move forward with the project.
Colbert Bump: Ticket sales were initially poor but soon soared after Brooke Shields appeared in a series of advertisements for Calvin Klein Jeans.
Creator Backlash: Brooke Shields felt uncomfortable at being a sex symbol while she was underage, and this was one of the many reasons she didn't become sexually active until she was twenty-two.
Darkhorse Casting: Christopher Atkins was a complete unknown when he was cast as Richard. He was discovered by director Randall Kleiser while working as a sailing instructor.
Dyeing for Your Art: Christopher Atkins permed his hair to look more "savage".
Matt Dillon was tested for the role of Dick but was turned down for being too inexperienced.
Jodie Foster was briefly considered for the role of Emmeline Lestrange.
An unknown Kelly Preston was tested for Emmeline but was turned down.
Keep Circulating the Tapes: After its 2012 Blu-ray release, the film has been out of circulation due to complex legal issues that also prevented its 1949 counterpart from being released on home video. The novel's author, Henry De Vere Stacpoole, died in 1951, and the novel was first published in England, meaning that The Blue Lagoon in its original book form only entered the public domain in the British Isles on January 1, 2022.
In 1916, Adolph Zukor at Paramount was looking for a potential vehicle for Mary Pickford. He became interested in the novel but was outbid by I.W. Schlesinger for the movie rights to the novel.
Around 1955, Jack Warner (one of the Warner Bros.) became interested in filming the novel once he bought the rights from Henry De Vere Stacpoole's estate. Warner became interested in casting Natalie Wood and Tab Hunter playing the Kissing Cousins, but it's been speculated that The Blue Lagoon (1949) put him off the idea, and the rights reverted back to Stacpoole's estate.
The novel did not gain Hollywood's attention again until The '60s, at the height of The British Invasion. Walter Mirisch, a top-flight producer at United Artists, acquired the movie rights to the novel in 1961. In 1964, after the success of The Pink Panther, Mirisch commissioned Lewis Gilbert to write a script based on the novel and envisioned Hayley Mills and Cliff Richard in the lead roles. Due to delays caused by The Vietnam War, Mirisch lost interest in the novel, and Gilbert could not reach an agreement with the estate of Henry De Vere Stacpoole for the movie rights, so his script became an original story, Friends.
Columbia Pictures' involvement with the novel only dates to 1970. After the success of Paramount's Romeo and Juliet, studios began looking for comparable properties, and Stacpoole's Blue Lagoon became an obvious possibility. Producer Ray Stark, associated with Columbia, bought the rights that year with the intention of making a starring vehicle for Kurt Russell as Dick and either Susan Dey or Linda Hayden as Emmeline. He did not make the film and sold the rights together with his production company to Columbia Pictures in 1974. This time, David Begelman took over the production rights.
Randal Kleiser became interested in filming the novel after picking a copy at a local library in 1972. He did not become aware that the novel was already filmed twice before, and Ray Stark, and subsequently, Columbia Pictures through the acquisition of Stark's production company Rastar, owned the movie rights. The ousting of Begelman from Columbia Pictures and the runaway success of Grease enabled Kleiser to finally secure the financing.
Filming in Fiji was delayed by four months. Cyclone Meli, which struck eastern Fiji in late March 1979, combined with constant rainfall, destroyed most of the sets and delayed production. Due to delays, cinematographer Néstor Almendros went on to work for Kramer vs. Kramer.
When the movie was being shot, director Randal Kleiser marveled at how Brooke Shields was "going from a child to a woman" right in front of the cameras. In the 2023 documentary Pretty Baby, Shields recalls this as him trying to sell her sexual awakening, as if she was in a reality show, despite her not even being in touch with her own sexuality due to growing up in a Catholic household that tied sex to guilt and shame. It is suggested that Shields was forced to star in the film without her consent.
Underage Casting: Brooke Shields was only 14 during filming while playing a pregnant Emmeline, who is 16-17 in the source story.
At one point, there was the talk of casting real-life siblings Donny and Marie Osmond as the Kissing Cousins, but Frank Price, who was Columbia Pictures' executive president at the time, vetoed the idea.
The initial idea was for the adult characters to appear nude throughout the entire movie, but this caused discomfort among many actors. It's worth noting that this isn't canon. In the book, they wear clothes that are similar to what they wear on screen. The skirt Em wears, which Paddy designed to fit her as she grows, is described in detail and is based on a sail with reef points.
Return To The Blue Lagoon:
Box Office Bomb: Return was one of these. Its production budget of $11 million was sullied by its box office total of $2,807,854.
Creator Killer: The failure of Return to the Blue Lagoon at the box office destroyed William Graham's career, as he never made a theatrical film again, as well as writer Leslie Stevens (who only wrote one more film before passing away). It also put the brakes on any Blue Lagoon adaptations for nearly 20 years, and even then it was only a Made-for-TV Movie that was intended as a Pilot Movie (The Awakening). It was only in 2022 when The Blue Lagoon in its original written form finally entered the public domain worldwide in English-speaking countries, which could finally enable Henry De Vere Stacpoole's novel to be rediscovered by younger generations.
Reality Subtext: As a child model, Milla Jovovich had been compared to Brooke Shields. She plays the role of Emmeline, which had been played by her in the original movie.
Real-Life Relative: The movie's director William Graham's daughter Annabel cameos as Lili and Richard Jr's baby in the final scene.
Saved from Development Hell: A sequel to the 1980 film has been in the works since 1982; however, conflicts over the motion picture rights to the novel between Columbia Pictures and the estate of Henry De Vere Stacpoole, who owned the rights outside the United Statesnote Author Stacpoole died in 1951 and the novel was first published in England, delayed production.
Troubled Production: Unpredictable weather changes threw a wrench into filming early on - with two solid weeks of heavy rain. They also had to shoot extensive sequences in the surf with the child actors during these conditions. Although the weather eventually improved, the cast and crew had to be treated for all sorts of tropical diseases across the shoot.
The Awakening:
Dawson Casting: Both the leads were in their early 20s playing high school students.
Fake American: Australians Indiana Evans and Brenton Thwaites play the American teenagers.
, which struck eastern Fiji in late March 1979, combined with constant rainfall, destroyed most of the sets and delayed production. Due to delays, cinematographer Néstor Almendros went on to work for Kramer vs. Kramer.