Beat the Devil (1953)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

John Huston

Writers:

James Helvick (novel)
Truman Capote (writer) ...

Release Date:

17 December 1953 (Italy)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Adventure at its boldest! Bogart at his best!

Plot:

On their way to Africa are a group of rogues who hope to get rich there, and a seemingly innocent British couple. They meet and things happen...

Plot Keywords:

Italy | Uranium | North Africa | Double Cross | Hotel

Cast

Humphrey Bogart	...	Billy Dannreuther
Jennifer Jones	...	Mrs. Gwendolen Chelm
Gina Lollobrigida	...	Maria Dannreuther
Robert Morley	...	Peterson
Peter Lorre	...	Julius O'Hara
Edward Underdown	...	Harry Chelm
Ivor Barnard	...	Maj. Jack Ross
Marco Tulli	...	Ravello
Bernard Lee	...	Insp. Jack Clayton
Mario Perrone	...	Purser on SS Nyanga
Giulio Donnini	...	Administrator
Saro Urzì	...	Captain of SS Nyanga
Aldo Silvani	...	Charles - Restaurant Manager
Juan de Landa	...	Hispano-Suiza Driver
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Julie Gibson

Also Known As:

Il tesoro dell'Africa (Italy)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

UK | USA | Italy

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Finland:S | Spain:T | Switzerland:14 | UK:U | West Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Rizzoli-Haggiag

Trivia:

John Huston was star/producer Humphrey Bogart's first choice to direct. However, Huston had some scheduling conflicts -- he was due to make a movie with Katharine Hepburn (which was never made, as Hepburn graciously stepped aside to help out Huston), not to mention that he had to finish his then-current project Moulin Rouge (1952). Nicholas Ray, who Bogart had worked with twice before, was considered to direct in case Huston could not finish in time.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Billy, Peterson and the driver push the car for the first time, there are four suitcases tied on its rear. When they do it for the second time, there are only three higher suitcases. And when the car falls in the cliff, the four suitcases from the beginning reappear.

Quotes:

Billy Dannreuther: Trouble with England, it's all pomp and no circumstance. You're very wise to get out of it, escape, while you can.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Jack Benny Program: Humphrey Bogart Show (#4.3)" (1953)

Shoddy production

I've tried, and tried, and tried, and have now given up trying to figure out the appeal "Beat the Devil" has to a certain clique of film fans. There's no denying its surface appeal. Bogie, Huston, Capote, Lorre, Jones, et al, but I'd have to agree with Bogart who called it a "dog." It's not exciting, it's not funny, and it's not appealing to the eye. The shoddy production values (at least for a film with a cast, director, and writer of such high calibre) were apparent to many critics of the time, so the video and DVD releases probably look no worse than the film did in 1953. The fact that the copyright holders (Bogart's company co-produced) let this fall into the public domain may be a clue to what they thought of it.