Beat the Devil (1953)
Genre: Comedy / Adventure
Duration: 89 minuten
Country:
United Kingdom / Italy / United States
Directed by: John Huston
Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones and Gina Lollobrigida
IMDb score:
6,4 (11.403)
Releasedate: 24 November 1953
Beat the Devil plot
"They’re Out To Beat the Devil At His Own Game!"
Messrs. Peterson, O'Hara, Ross and Ravello want to take a ship to Central Africa on business. During a stop in an Italian port, they are joined by Billy and Maria Dannreuther and Gwendolen and Harry Chelm, who also have business plans. It soon becomes apparent that their plans have a lot to do with each other.
Actors and actresses
Billy Dannreuther
Gwendolen Chelm
Maria Dannreuther
Peterson
Julius O'Hara
Harry Chelm
Maj. Jack Ross
Ravello
Insp. Jack Clayton
Purser on SS Nyanga
Reviews & comments
BBarbie
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- 12893 messages
- 7675 votes
A handful of stars plus an experienced director plus a nice story in itself. Can't believe the end result is so poor. Something must have gone wrong somewhere along the way, so it seems that John Huston was not sure whether he wanted to make a crime film or a comedy. Anyway: it is neither meat nor fish. Waist of time.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Kiekerjan
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- 119 messages
- 106 votes
A silly low-budget farce in which Bogie and his cronies talk each other's ears off. Peter Lorre is starting to look more and more like Churchill and, together with Bogart, forms the only bright spot in this failed attempt at humor and sensation. Just about every other actor delivers a poor to disastrous performance; especially the women are constantly guilty of overacting. The meager story slams non-stop and I almost fell asleep on several occasions. Somewhere I see potential in this kind of farcical adventure film, but here the execution shows such ignorance that every glimmer of hope is immediately crushed. Lots of blabla, little action. Huston has somehow managed to portray the Italian region in the most mothball way possible. Atmosphere/ambiance is minimal and the whole feels empty and uninspired. Avoid like the plague.
Translated from Dutch · View original
mjk87 (moderator films)
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- 14760 messages
- 4631 votes
Nice that Netflix has a Huston film with Bogart on it (also The African Queen, but I had already seen it) just a pity that this is a fairly mediocre film. A mix between crime and comedy in which lightness seems to prevail, but the film does not completely convince. The film is never really fun (despite the visible fun of the actors) and never really exciting. A lot happens in 90 minutes, so the individual moments don't work and despite the fact that a lot happens, the film didn't take me along and therefore failed to captivate the full running time. Especially the last half hour is not very interesting anymore. I prefer to see Bogart in a heavier role, I thought he was a bit miscast here. 2.0*.
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