82 of 1001 Movies: Beat the Devil (1954)

John Huston has offered several classics so far for viewing such as The African Queen, which was presented in technicolor, and his short on The Battle of San Pietro, so why does Beat the Devil look like the lowest quality movie I've ever seen from the 50s? The guy was well enough in his career to have the access to make something clearer, and where I could at least see people's faces. Everyone has terrible shadows though, and film is just really bad. You have classics like Humphrey Bogart and Jennifer Jones leading the film, and while there chemistry makes it somewhat interesting it still doesn't salvage the film.

After their ship is docked for repairs on the way to Africa a group of rogues is now left stranded their a few days. Everyone is hoping to get rich there, and a couple, Harry and Gwendowlen probably have the best plan for doing so. There is one that is trusted to know what exactly they are up to, Billy, as he has fallen for Gwendowlen and gotten her trust. Not only that, but Harry has fallen for Billy's wife, Maria. While these guys are navigating their romantic lives a group of criminal like guys are trying to weasel their way into Harry's prosperous deal he has set up once arriving to Africa.


So far Bogart hasn't been the most interesting actor. He's a good one, but every time I see him in a movie I don't necessarily look forward to his presence. So far The Barefoot Contessa has been one of the more difficult ones for me to get through. The African Queen was entertaining, and with Katherine Hephburn the whole pairing worked. Jennifer Jones is interesting as Gwendowlen though. At first you think she isn't too intelligent because she is telling Billy about something between her and her husband, Harry, but then you see she is trying to make a smart business movie.

Beat the Devil is supposed to be a satire though, but unless you've seen a lot of the movies it is sort of spoofing then the jokes, and humor will be lost on you. It also doesn't necessarily provide an excuse for having to sit through something that you can barely make out. When you find out it is supposed to be humor filled it does sort of make it less interesting, because the affairs, and every other scenario just can't be taken seriously at all.

The thing is most of the movie looks like cross hatching, and at times most of the character's faces are so shadowed you can't see their expressions. The sound even sounds muted at times. In the 50s movies weren't all filmed in technicolor, but the quality had at least improved somewhat from previous years where you had crispier film being delivered to the audience. Everything in this movie is very dark, and doesn't have the actors working with the lighting very well despite the fact they are filming in an interesting location.

If you're a serious John Huston fan, and have a good grasp on the genre this is a satire of then your enjoyment of the film will increase drastically. If you don't well then it might be a tad bit difficult to follow, and even dull at times. On top of that you know Huston is capable of a lot of better and yet this looks just about as good as the film he was sent to document for the military in the middle of the war.

Rating 5 of 10.