Beat the Devil (1953)
"We are at sea gentlemen, in more ways than one"
So says Humphrey Bogart's character Billy Dannreuther and it sums the film up perfectly. The story is intricately woven and yet also instantly forgettable window dressing as ideas come and go without development and the whole thing is rushed in the final five minutes when Bernard Lee's inspector from Scotland Yard shows up to sort it all out.
Filmed on Italy's Amalfi coast this is less the tale of disparate folks attempting to get a boat to Africa and more about getting a fantastic cast - as well as Bogart we have Peter Lorre, Jennifer Jones, Robert Morley, Gina Lollobrigida and Edward Underdown - to pretty much just enjoy themselves and spout delicious dialogue, all held together, if you could call it that by Truman Capote's ad hoc script (Apparently he wrote it as they were filming day to day) and John Huston's self indulgent direction.
Whilst watching, the fact that Huston seems to be self parodying his earlier work such as The Maltese Falcon was distracting as was the sheer whimsy of many scenes but now an hour later it's a film that has definitely left something in my head and i can't say the same about the majority of movies. It's a mess but clearly a very interesting mess.
The 2020 BFI restored release looks great especially when compared to the many gray market releases that came before it.
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