50 years ago today

It's interesting that you use the word "cute." I was going to say that the episode is not that funny, but it is "sweet."

Perhaps the funniest bits belong to Natalie Schafer as she can barely contain her glee at the thought of having a secret admirer while Mr. Howell is interrogating the Skipper, Professor and Gilligan.

One bit of trivia is that the "dingy storeroom" of Cinderella's mansion is a re-dress of Professor Balinkoff's "dungeon." This set, with the stone staircase curving up one wall, also shows up in innumerable episodes of "Get Smart" and the "Wild Wild West" and is no doubt seen in other series of the time. I've got believe that this was a standing set built into a wall of a soundstage at the studio. [Until 2014, Stage 28 at Universal still had the Paris Opera House from the 1925 version of "The Phantom of the Opera" permanently built into its walls. The stage has since been demolished, but the set was preserved.]

In the dream sequence of this episode, Dawn Wells gets bad teeth and Tina Louise sports a "broken" nose. The makeup here really changes Tina's appearance. Somehow, even her eyes look totally different. Both Dawn and Tina also wind up "bald," making Russell Johnson the only castaway never to appear that way.

Best line: "Sorry. I blew my top."

I like your theory about Duke Williams = Tongo, BenGsBoat.

I guess I'd have to say that Denny Miller is probably the best thing in this episode. His scene with Ginger is funny, although Tina looks like she's getting kind of tired of getting pushed off that rock. I wonder if they had to shoot that more than the three times it was in the episode.

Favorite Lines:
Mr. Howell on seeing Tongo eat the pie with his bare hands:"Good Heavens! A Yale Man!"

Gilligan picking up the radio at the spot where the ape abducts Tongo: "I wonder which one of them dropped it?"

I also like the Professor's astonished, "He...He TALKED!"

Questions, so may questions...

So now the island has orangutans as well as gorillas? Finding either on that island would be like finding a polar bear there.

And just who is Tongo making that recording for? I'll tell you who - Sidney A. Mandel and Roy Kammerman, the writers of the episode, who needed a way for Tongo to deliver exposition.

Considering how much the Professor objected to letting Norbert Wiley out of his cage, he seems more than willing to trust this Ape-Man who has attacked all of them. It was the Professor who got kicked by Tongo when he swung by on the vine earlier.

We do know one thing, you can land a helicopter on the island without being heard.

Speaking of Tongo's/Kincaid's/The Mosquitoes' helicopter, here's a link to photo of one that is either similar or the same model. I don't know the manufacturer.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/medias.photodeck.com/a907cff5-f511-4928-9949-69914014ec02/RS_5032_Helicopter_Pontoon__Hardy_Reef__Queensland__Australia_medium.jpg

Tongo's spiffy, mini tape recorder is a "Telmar T-100." When first revealed, the logo is small but visible. In the close-up and all following shots, it has a strategically placed piece of duct tape covering the logo.
http://vintage-technics.ru/Telmar%20T-100/P3260200.JPG

And here's something I may be imaging, but maybe not. The final shot of Tongo waving his hand while shrugging, because distance and noise prevents him from doing anything else, seems oddly reminiscent of the famous last shot of Marcello Mastroianni shrugging and waving to the girl on the beach (because he can not be heard due to distance and the sound of the waves) at the end of Fellini's 1961 film, "La Dolce Vita."

Unlikely? Maybe. But the series had already referenced Fellini's 1963 "8 1/2" in Gilligan's dream sequence in "St. Gilligan and the Dragon."

Although probably the least plausible "Gilligan" episode - and that's saying something - this is also one of my favorites.

While the producers and writer's certainly had an affinity for silent and early sound era comedians, like Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy, the also had a place in their hearts for early horror films. "Up at Bat," gave us Dracula, "And Then There Were None" gave us "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," and "The Friendly Physicians" is based on the 1936 Karloff film "The Man Who Changed His Mind" (try to see it sometime - its fun, and it is the basis for that episode).

"Gilligan's Personal Magnetism" plunders two, count 'em, two additional early horror films: 1933's "The Invisible Man" and 1932's "The Mummy."

Favorite Line: "Skipper, did I do that?" "No, Gilligan. I just thought that I'd wear the door tonight!"

Favorite bits: The girls whistling the "Gilligan's Island" theme while trying to act nonchalant around Gilligan and his rock. Also, Alan Hale's camera take when the the invisible Gilligan runs into the jungle is priceless.

The Professor's claim that the rock is magnetized to crystallized metals in Gilligan's hand is dubious. The human body contains many metals, as the Professor says, but only three are attracted to magnets (iron, nickel and cobalt). Combined, the volume in an entire human body would amount to few drops of water. Hardly enough to keep that rock attached to Gilligan's hand.

Oh, and we get to see Ginger in a nurse's uniform again. *sigh*

[Also, if you look closely, you can see that the Skipper is suffering from a slight zipper-based "costume malfunction" after the lightning strike that turns Gilligan invisible.]

I feel like this episode is just on the edge on what you could get away with outside of a dream sequence. Some of the proposed 4th season episodes, like the one where he is miniaturized, seem like they would have turned the show into pure fantasy.