MovieChat Forums > Gilligan's Island (1964) Discussion > Mr. Howell's Secret

Mr. Howell's Secret

posted 6 years ago by FilmBuff (7272)
5 replies | jump to latest

I think that Mr. Howell had a plan, and Ginger was in on it. Note that the Howell's brought seemingly all of their worldly possessions, not to mention millions in cash, onto a boat that was meant to be at sea for only 3 hours. Ginger, too, brought a massive wardrobe with her. Meanwhile, the other 4 only have the clothes on their back.

My suspicion is that Mr. Howell planned to hijack the ship. Mrs. Howell was in on it, but unaware that Thurston intended to kill her along with the other passengers, except for his secret mistress, Ginger. Mrs. Howell thought the two of them were going to run off together, but in fact Thurston and Ginger were going to abscond to some tropical country without an extradition policy.

Things went awry in the storm, and his plan never came to fruition, and he ended up shipwrecked with the lot of them.

[–] PaladinNJ (21528) 6 years ago

You forgot that the Professor also brought a veritable library of reference books with him.

[–] FilmBuff (7272) 6 years ago

True, but I can forgive that. I, too, am guilty of bringing far more books with me on a short excursion than I can read. He's just got it worse than I do.

Or...

Was he in on it, too? Were he and Mrs. Howell scheming against Mr. Howell, both unaware that Mr. Howell had his own plan, or that Ginger was involved???

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

I think the professor was in on it, too. Interesting thread. This whole concept would be a very good premise for a modern, dark & gritty version of Gilligan's Island.

[–] liscarkat (18600) 5 years ago

I'd watch that movie.

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 5 years ago

I like this. The missing link is that Skipper had to be in on it too. I'd say that Skipper was running a "off-the-books" boat. The passengers were not booking a "3 hour tour" but rather they were Trying to avoid authorities etc.

The Howells: Looking to flee the country in the wake of massive fraud litigation. This would account for the limited effort to search for such a reviled person)
Ginger: Thurston's mistress.
Mary Ann: Trying to escape her abusive manic boyfriend who caught her at the airport last time she tried.
Prof: Either escaping sexual misconduct allegations or he is actually a madman who calculated that Hawaii was about to explode and had to leave asap (this would account for his not properly using his scientific know-how to get rescued.)

So Skipper runs a shifty outfit. His loyalty to his military pal, who was never the same after the War, led him to partner with him in a business venture. But since Gilligan is a klutz and hapless, business suffered. They had to stoop to illegal ventures like smuggling. In this case, human smuggling.