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Home >> Tobago >> Read about >> Hollywood's dream island: Casting for Pacific or African paradise - Tobago always got the part
Tobago
Hollywood's dream island: Casting for Pacific or African paradise - Tobago always got the part
Lots of paradise islands, one original setting: whenever, during Hollywood’s heyday, a tropical, fairytale-like paradise setting was needed, Tobago was their first choice. The island was cast to play the part of a South Pacific atoll, then again it served as a miniature edition of Africa inhabited by lions and elephants. During this time, Cecil Lyons, still a taxi driver today, chauffeured the stars around, and he also remembers their escapades and extravagancies.
By Bernhard Grdseloff
By Bernhard Grdseloff
Robert Mitchum und Deborah Kerr in "Soldier & nun": the stars...
...and their driver: Cecil Lyons with his Chevrolet
Blue Haven Hotel in Tobago: branch off Hollywood
"Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison" is one of the great film classics made in Tobago. The 1956 production is about a rough marine soldier (Robert Mitchum) and a pretty nun (Deborah Kerr) who are shipwrecked on a Pacific island threatened by the Japanese in World War II.
Then there was "Fire Down Below" (1957), again featuring Robert Mitchum but this time co-starring Rita Hayworth and Jack Lemmon as his rival.
The Walt Disney production "Swiss Family Robinson", for which even lions, elephants and giraffes were flown in, became famous around the world.
Hollywood’s headquarters in Tobago was the Blue Haven Hotel. That’s where chauffeur Lyons picked the stars up to take them to the film sets, and to the parties after work.
This man in his late sixties has quite a few anecdotes to tell about his days of driving the celebrities.
"Robert Mitchum in particular got himself involved in lots of scandals," he remembers. "I had to drive him from bar to bar where he drank like a fish, flirted with the girls and loved to have a fight with the boys." Once the famous dare-devil chased two British marines right across the entrance hall of the noble Blue Haven, making heavy use of his fists. They’d been chatting up an actress.
Lyons: "Mitchum ended up throwing the two over the pool deck balustrade and straight into the sea…"
The Blue Haven Hotel, which looks back on a long tradition, was left to fall into disrepair before Austrian hotelier Karl Pilstl (43) renovated it with great care.
"One of our first guests after the reopening was Bill Hill, production manager of "Swiss Family Robinson," reports Pilstl. "He had tears in his eyes when he saw the hotel restored to its old splendour."
Now the Blue Haven once again is used to shoot movies: films for Playboy-TV, for example…
Then there was "Fire Down Below" (1957), again featuring Robert Mitchum but this time co-starring Rita Hayworth and Jack Lemmon as his rival.
The Walt Disney production "Swiss Family Robinson", for which even lions, elephants and giraffes were flown in, became famous around the world.
Hollywood’s headquarters in Tobago was the Blue Haven Hotel. That’s where chauffeur Lyons picked the stars up to take them to the film sets, and to the parties after work.
This man in his late sixties has quite a few anecdotes to tell about his days of driving the celebrities.
"Robert Mitchum in particular got himself involved in lots of scandals," he remembers. "I had to drive him from bar to bar where he drank like a fish, flirted with the girls and loved to have a fight with the boys." Once the famous dare-devil chased two British marines right across the entrance hall of the noble Blue Haven, making heavy use of his fists. They’d been chatting up an actress.
Lyons: "Mitchum ended up throwing the two over the pool deck balustrade and straight into the sea…"
The Blue Haven Hotel, which looks back on a long tradition, was left to fall into disrepair before Austrian hotelier Karl Pilstl (43) renovated it with great care.
"One of our first guests after the reopening was Bill Hill, production manager of "Swiss Family Robinson," reports Pilstl. "He had tears in his eyes when he saw the hotel restored to its old splendour."
Now the Blue Haven once again is used to shoot movies: films for Playboy-TV, for example…