Brooke Shields was just 14 years old when she starred in the movie.
The movie The Blue Lagoon was not only panned by critics when it debuted in the mid-1980s, it also caused a heated controversy over the s-xualization of its teenage leads, especially her 14-year-old heroine.
Indeed, such a controversy would be devastating today, but back then it was certainly one Brooke Shields was used to. As the publicity face and interpreter of a child prostitute in Louis Malle's acclaimed film Pretty Baby (1978), the debate around her only continued with the premiere of The Blue Lagoon, the adaptation of the 1908 novel written by Henry De Vere Stacpoole. Tape that was able to overcome the scandals and this year turns four decades converted into a true classic.
Directed by Randal Kleiser (Grease), his version was the third adaptation of the book, after a silent film from 1923 and another from 1949. The story, set at the end of the 19th century, revolved around two cousins who, after a shipwreck were left abandoned on an island in the South Pacific and as they grew up they began to discover their s-xuality.
Alongside Shields was debutant Christopher Atkins, who at 18 years old filmed his own n-de scenes, but the production took precautions around the young woman: her n-des were filmed by a 32-year-old double and her long hair was glued to her breasts. so that they are not exposed. The tape was filmed in Jamaica and on a private island in Fiji.
Despite poor reviews, the film was a box office success. With a gross of $58 million in the US, it recovered its budget of $4.5 million and became one of the most viewed of that year.
Both actors enjoyed immediate successful careers, but Atkins's light faded quickly, although he remains working in Hollywood until now and has several projects in the pipeline. At 55, Shields – who won the Razzie Award for Worst Actress for The Blue Lagoon – is no longer as popular as she once was, but she has maintained a steady and more flashy career, especially on television. She starred in the popular sitcom Suddenly Susan and had an acclaimed appearance on the series Law & Order: SVU.
Likewise, she has starred in some musicals on Broadway, such as Los locos Adams, Wonderful Town and Grease. She is now preparing a new film, A Castle for Christmas.
The blue lagoon is still a classic, but the success of it has tried to be revived without success. In 1991 a sequel was released, Return to the Blue Lagoon, with Milla Jovovich, which was a resounding failure; and in 2016 he debuted The Blue Lagoon: The Awakening, a remake for television with the Australian Brenton Thwaites that went unnoticed.
