Beat the Devil (1953)

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...

Director:

John Huston

Writers:

James Helvick (novel), Truman Capote (screenplay),

Stars:

Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones, Gina Lollobrigida

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited 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 (as Saro Urzi)
Juan de Landa	...	Hispano-Suiza Driver
Aldo Silvani	...	Charles - Restaurant Manager

Storyline

A quartet of international crooks -- Peterson, O'Hara, Ross and Ravello -- is stranded in Italy while their steamer is being repaired. With them are the Dannreuthers. The six are headed for Africa, presumably to sell vacuum cleaners but actually to buy land supposedly loaded with uranium. They are joined by others who apparently have similar designs.

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Plot Keywords:

italy | uranium | italian | double cross | husband wife relationship | 

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Taglines:

Bogart meets his match in the bold adventure that beats them all!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK USA Italy

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

17 December 1953 (Italy)

Also Known As:

La burla del diablo

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rizzoli-Haggiag, Romulus Films, Santana Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Humphrey Bogart was involved in a serious automobile accident during production of this film, which knocked out several of his teeth and hindered his ability to speak. John Huston hired a young British actor noted for his mimicry skills to rerecord some of Bogart's spoken lines during post-production looping. Although it is undetectable when viewing the film today, it is Peter Sellers who provides Bogart's voice during some of the scenes in this movie.

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Goofs

When the boat arrives at shore and the group come out of the sea, Billy walks after Peterson and stops just behind him. In the next shot, shown from the front, Billy appears on the left side of Peterson.

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Quotes

O'Hara: Time. Time. What is time? Swiss manufacture it. French hoard it. Italians squander it. Americans say it is money. Hindus say it does not exist. Do you know what I say? I say time is a crook.

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Connections

References Casablanca (1942)

User Reviews

Amazing how clueless some people are

If you're a classic film fan, you're going to come across this film sooner or later. And chances are, being a fan of how movies were made back in the day, you'll understand what these creative folks were going for.

It's a satire/spoof! It's not a blatant attack on movies of similar genres (a la Naked Gun), but a subtle one because THEY PLAY IT STRAIGHT. And therein lies the genius of this film. It's a satire that's played straight. Even though the actors, bless their hearts, seem like they're sometimes about to bust a seam speaking the lines, they are intentionally trying to be serious. Every cast member, especially Edward Underdown and Robert Morley (as Chelm and Peterson), understood and delivered their lines to perfection. "The men of this world most in need of a beating up are all so incredibly large..." Or something like that. Hell, Bogart just sat back and let the humor flow all around him. And good old Jennifer Jones. The old Selznick factory product finally gives a performance that's not artificial. What's amazing is that renowned Italian actress Gina Lollobridgia took part in this production. My theory is, she didn't know what the hell was going on. They gave her the script, told her to play it seriously, and didn't clue her in on the joke. There had not been a film made like this before, and there hasn't been one made since.

Perhaps this film has served a lesson to studios over the years. Sometimes, I think some of todays satire/spoofs do venture close to Beat the Devil ground (Zoolander), but none of them ever reach it for fear of the audience not getting it, as I understand most of Beat the Devils audience of 1954 did not get it. Imagine Mike Myers playing Austin Powers straight, and not trying to be funny in all the situations he's in. To me, that would be immensely more funny.