Return to Paradise is a 1998 film directed by Joseph Ruben, written by Wesley Strick and Bruce Robinson and starring Anne Heche, Joaquin Phoenix and Vince Vaughn.
Tagline: Give up three years of their lives or give up the life of their friend. They have eight days to decide.
Return to Paradise is a drama film released by United Artists in 1953. The film was directed by Mark Robson and starred Gary Cooper, Barry Jones, and Roberta Haynes. It was based on a short story by James Michener, as his sequel to Tales of the South Pacific. It was filmed on location in Matautu, Western Samoa (present-day Samoa).
Three friends share an exciting vacation in Malaysia, full of fun, drinks, women and hash. When the vacation is over, each have dreams of continuing their lives, and they all go their separate ways. One of them (Phoenix) remains on the tropical paradise to fulfill a dream of working with apes for research. Two years later, a lawyer (Heche) comes to New York and hunts down the other two friends to give some sad news. A few days after they left the island, police raided their camp and found amazingly large quantities of hash left about. Phoenix was still residing there, so he had to take the blame. He is set to be put to death in 8 days, and the only way the charges can be decreased is if the two friends come back to paradise and take their share of the responsibilty. If they do, they both will spend three years in prison. If only one does, he will spend six years behind bars... Written by R.P. Falvey
Lewis, Sheriff and Tony are three American guys who meet and hang out one summer at the beach huts of Malaysia. There they enjoy the luxuries of women, rum and hashish. As the summer ends, Tony and Sheriff go back to New York, but Lewis decides to go to Borneo to help save the orangutan. But before he got the chance to leave, he was arrested for possession of the leftover hash and sentenced to death because he was considered to be trafficking. Two years go by and Sheriff and Tony are living their lives peacefully in The Big Apple when Lewis' lawyer tells them the news: three years each if they both go, six years if one goes, Lewis' death if neither go. Although they both do not want Lewis to die, they do not know him well enough to really want to sacrifice three years of their life to a Third-World prison. "Return to Paradise" watches Sheriff and Tony as they struggle to decide in the short period of time. Written by Rob Meltzer
Based on the short story "Mr. Morgan" from "Return To Paradise" (James Michener's sequel to "Tales of the South Pacific"). Morgan (Gary Cooper), a drifter and soldier-of-fortune washes up on a Pacific island that is a small dictatorial state under the puritanic rule of Pastor Corbett (Barry Jones), a missionary. They conflict but Morgan stays on and carves out a cozy life. He has a child out of wedlock with island native Maeva (Roberta Haynes), but departs the island after her death, leaving the young daughter behind. He returns years later in search of his daughter. It is circa the early years of WW II, and he finds that his daughter has fallen in love with an American pilot who has crash-landed on the island. It appears that the pilot will do for the girl what Morgan did for her mother, and then depart. Written by Les Adams
