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:

Claud Cockburn (based on the novel "Beat the Devil" by) (as James Helvick), 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 (as Juan De Landa)
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:

uranium | con artist | husband wife relationship | british east africa | north africa | 

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Taglines:

The film that was ten years ahead of its time is ten years old...(it's time!) (1962 reissue ad).

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

UK Italy USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

17 December 1953 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Schach dem Teufel

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Romulus Films,Dear Film,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

The failure of the original copyright holder to renew the film's copyright resulted in it falling into public domain, meaning that virtually anyone could duplicate and sell a VHS/DVD copy of the film. Therefore, many of the versions of this film available on the market are either severely (and usually badly) edited and/or of extremely poor quality, having been duped from second- or third-generation (or more) copies of the film.

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Goofs

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 off the cliff, the four suitcases from the beginning reappear.

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Quotes

Petersen: A good laugh does more for the stomach muscles than five minutes' sitting-up exercises.

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Alternate Versions

The original American release version was truncated and had scenes moved around, making a mess of the story line. The uncut version--released overseas by Romulus--was finally restored in the U.S. by Sony in 2016.

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Connections

Referenced in Infamous (2006)

User Reviews

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.