 Beat the Devil
...decidedly offbeat
Reviewed by
Bruce Cantwell
Saturday evening, Elizabeth and I had Chris over for dinner. I was working on a theatre page so Chris's brief experience as a theatre major bubbled to the surface.
"I was only a theatre major for one semester because I couldn't stand anyone in my classes and couldn't imagine spending a lifetime with these people."
Actors and criminals are in the same boat. What a wonderful thing it is to be thoroughly disreputable. Only complete mistrust of one's fellow beings could turn a layover of undetermined length in a lovely Italian port into an anxious, stomach-churning game of cat-and-mouse.
Billy (Humphrey Bogart) and his decidedly shady business associates O'Hara (Peter Lorre), Petersen (Robert Morley), Major Ross (Ivor Barnard) and Ravello (Mario Tulli) are in route to East Africa when their steamer ship poops out.
Billy relaxes and takes advantage of the locale for a little rest and relaxation, perfectly aware that he can trust his associates about as far as he can toss a Chevy Suburban. Fortunately, he's the guy with the East African contact so like it or not, the others have to treat him like the goose who laid the golden egg.
Billy's wife Maria (Gina Lollobrigida) is along for the ride, but thoroughly bored by the enterprise until the Chelms (an English couple) arrive to start things percolating.
Gwendolyn Chelm (Jennifer Jones) a blond pathological liar, smells an aura of money around Billy and instantly falls in love with him. Meanwhile, Maria decides to see if there's any life left in the stodgy Harry Chelm (Edward Underdown).
These romantic dalliances infuriate the myopic band of hooligans. What are Billy and his wife up to? Are we being double-crossed? Will Billy spill the beans about the uranium ore? Is there uranium ore to be had or are these two strangers in cahoots with Billy to swindle us out of our money?
John Huston's screwball comedy from a script by Truman Capote, James Helvick and himself is right on the money. It's also a very unusual film; a send-up of exactly the kind of film that made Huston's career.
I attempted to tape Beat the Devil when it was on television at around 2 am, but miss-set the VCR timer. The tape started in the middle somewhere and I couldn't grasp the tone of the piece, mistaking it for a drama or very flat comedy. To my pleasant surprise, seeing the film in its entirety exonerated its status as a cult favourite.
 
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