Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957) on Netflix

During World War II, an American marine and an Irish nun form an unlikely friendship after being stranded on a South Pacific island. They find comfort in one another as the two hope for a rescue.

In 1944, the castaway Corporal Allison, adrift in a raft since his ship was attacked, lands on tiny Tuasiva Island, where he meets Sister Angela. She tells him that she is the only person on the island, having been left behind while trying to evacuate a priest. The nun and the marine are stranded, but the island offers a bountiful supply of food. However, their paradisiacal life ends when the Japanese arrive to build an outpost, forcing "Mr." Allison and the nun to take refuge in a cave. The marine's expertise in such conditions proves to be vital to their survival, and the two grow ever closer.

—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; jonathanroberts

In 1944, Marine Corps Cpl. Allison finds himself washed ashore on a small island in the Pacific. The only other inhabitant is Sister Angela, a Catholic nun who herself only arrived a few days before with a priest. They found the small village deserted, and the priest died soon afterward. Over time, Allison falls in love with Sister Angela, but theirs is a relationship that is not meant to be. Their situation soon changes when Japanese troops arrive, but Allison's presence proves essential when US forces prepare to take the island.

—garykmcd

Marine Corporal Allison is shipwrecked on a Pacific island during World War II. The only other person on the island is a nun, Sister Angela. The pure nun and the rough-and-ready soldier have characters totally at odds at each other, but they come to recognize their shared experience in serving institutions larger than themselves, and gradually develop an attachment to each other.

—David Gibson <djg6@ukc.ac.uk>

For different reasons, Irish Catholic nun Sister Angela and U.S. Marine Corporal Allison are stranded on deserted Tuasiva Island in the South Pacific in 1944, the island abandoned due to circumstances of World War II. Calling each other Mr. Allison and "ma'am", they are respectful of each other's vocation - and of each other as people - despite their extreme differences in backgrounds and outlooks. Despite a bounty of fresh food on the island (tree fruit, fish and other game) and the hazards of the trek, they plan on using Allison's marine raft to sail 300 miles south to Fiji. This plan is thwarted when the Japanese first bomb the island, and then set up what looks to be a weather station, forcing Allison and Sister Angela into hiding. When action in the Pacific Theater makes the Japanese leave the island as quickly as they landed, Allison suspects the Allied forces won that battle and will soon be doing their own reconnaissance in the area. Thinking that they may soon be rescued, Allison tells Sister Angela what is in his heart, especially in light of the fact that Sister Angela has not yet taken her final vows: he has for the first time in his life fallen in love, and wants to marry her once off the island. Sister Angela tells him that she is already engaged to her life to God. Allison takes Sister Angela's answer hard. When the Allied forces don't show up, Allison thinks they may be stranded on the island forever, convincing Sister Angela to at least reconsider their collective lot in life. However, the war continues around them, making the twosome take life one moment at a time for however long they will be on the island.

—Huggo