The plot of Beat The Devil involves a
write2topcat
The plot of Beat The Devil involves a band of four motley characters intent on stealing uranium from British East Africa for a quick profit, in a land deal…
The plot of Beat The Devil involves a band of four motley characters intent on stealing uranium from British East Africa for a quick profit, in a land deal brokered by the Bogart character,(named Billy Dannreuther). The story begins in an Italian seaport as Bogie and his wife Maria, played by Gina Lollobrigida, wait on the arrival of the four criminals played by Philip Morley (Peterson), Peter Lorre (Julius O'Hara), Ivor Barnard (Maj. Jack Ross), and Marco Tulli (Ravello). From there they plan to sail to Africa. While waiting they meet a British couple going on the same ship, Edward Underdown and Jennifer Jones (who play Harry and Gwendolyn Chelm).
The plot is an afterthought though. The film is about eccentric behavior. Philip Morley's character Peterson is a nervous, greedy, bumbling fellow. The two wives develop crushes on each other's husbands. Jennifer Jones as Gwen Chelm is a flighty, happy, imaginative creature of fancy who falls in love with Bogart.
The sea captain is a drunkard, and the ship is a rust bucket with a failing oil pump. The steward tells the passengers to return to the lounge. "We're heading to the nearest port, and there seems to be some chance of our making it" he says smiling.
If you enjoy relaxed, amusing entertainment, you might like the witty company of this cast of seasoned actors and beautiful actresses.
★ 7 / 10
An unlikely group of would-be swindlers find themselves
CinemaSerf
An unlikely group of would-be swindlers find themselves stuck in Italy when their boat (to Africa) breaks down. Theoretically, the four are on their way to…
An unlikely group of would-be swindlers find themselves stuck in Italy when their boat (to Africa) breaks down. Theoretically, the four are on their way to sell vacuum cleaners (but really to pick up some ostensibly worthless land - that only they know is a rich source of uranium). Whilst they wait, they meet a British couple and soon the six, somewhat distrustingly, continue their journey. The story isn't really up to very much. It's the characterisations that work well. Humphrey Bogart is great as the seedy but clever foil to the excellent Robert Morley - both make good use of the witty script from Truman Capote and direction from John Huston. Peter Lorre, likewise, always manages to make less look like more - his eyes, shrugs and smiles add much that do not need accompanying words. Gina Lollobrigida rarely made a good film, I think, though. Glamorous, sexy - sure, but talented? I think not - and here she adds very little, unlike Jennifer Jones ("Mrs. Chelm") whose ability to spin a yarn or two would stretch the imagination of Enid Blyton. It runs out of steam a little towards the quite quirky end, but is still a well structured and engaging adventure with just a hint of romance.
★ 6 / 10
Amusing, sure, if not a `classic.' But enjoyable enough for what it is
bmacv
Pleasant enough piffle a mildly diverting comedy-adventure hybrid Beat The Devil has a belated reputation as the last word in dry drollery, an arch in-joke…
Pleasant enough piffle a mildly diverting comedy-adventure hybrid Beat The Devil has a belated reputation as the last word in dry drollery, an arch in-joke to whose hidden hilarity only the select and sophisticated few are privy. Humphrey Bogart didn't think so, saying `Only the phonies think it's funny. It's a mess.' But one of the movie's formidable champions, Pauline Kael, picked up on his line and trumped it: `Yes, but it may be the funniest mess of all time.' Bogart may be the shrewder critic here; after all, he sank his own dough into the venture, which went down like the ill-starred freighter upon which the cast put to sea. Only latterly has it has it acquired dubious `classic' stature.Beat The Devil (directed by John Huston, who co-wrote the script with the up-and-coming Truman Capote) improvises a loose, comic riff on the international adventure genre. Thankfully, it's not unhinged or absurd enough to be a dreaded `spoof,' and emphatically not one (as it's become a commonplace to assume) of the noir cycle. In narrative, point of view and look (there's no coherent visual style), Beat The Devil bears not the slightest resemblance to film noir, which, by this point, was slyly starting to parody itself anyway. The plot's McGuffin concerns uranium deposits in central Africa, which draw a disreputable and multinational crew of opportunists who hope to strike it rich by sticking it to their various motherlands. The joke lies in that these bumblers keep getting taken in by one another's cover stories, pretensions and lies and falling for one another's spouses. It's not a bad joke, but it needs a bit more rigor to flesh it out from a skit to a feature film.Of course it's funny, if haphazardly. A blonde Jennifer Jones, juggling an English accent as if with a mouth full of prunes, comes straight out of screwball comedy (who knew?), and Gina Lollobrigida (when not waylaid by her own attempts at English) occasionally matches her. Peter Lorre, looking much like the short and rotund Capote of the future, again displays his instinctive flair for subversive comedy (his past in sinister parts limited what might have been a long and enjoyable career). And Robert Morley, crisp as a toasted if unusually thick crumpet, serves up every line like a butler bearing a decanter of vintage port. Bogart, on the other hand, can't persuasively hide his age and infirmity, and his role as debonair lover and man of action demands superhuman suspension of disbelief (maybe he was just thinking of all the money he was going to lose). Yet having fun doesn't have to mean that plot is irrelevant, some boring old rule made to be broken. Part of the movie's folklore is that Capote stayed up all night writing the next day's pages; maybe so, but didn't he or Huston know where they were going? Once the characters wade up on the North African shore to be apprehended by `Arabs' (surely, Bedouins?), there's no more pretense of a cohesive script or a halfway satisfying storyline. Finding a plausible way out of all the intrigue, however tongue-in-cheek it might have been, wouldn't have killed the laughs, now, would it?
68%
TOMATOMETER
· 19 reviews
54%
AUDIENCE
· 2.5K ratings
6.4/10
11.6K
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seed please!