{"id":73190,"date":"2021-06-21T14:14:15","date_gmt":"2021-06-21T21:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=73190"},"modified":"2021-12-24T14:10:32","modified_gmt":"2021-12-24T21:10:32","slug":"beat-the-devil-1953","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=73190","title":{"rendered":"Beat the Devil (1953)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;We simply mustn&#8217;t let anybody murder Harry.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Poster-228x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"228\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-73191\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Poster-228x300.png 228w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Poster-97x128.png 97w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Poster-206x270.png 206w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Poster.png 663w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 228px) 100vw, 228px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen a British couple (Edward Underdown and Jennifer Jones) in an Italian port town meet up with a group of men (Humphrey Bogart, Robert Morley, Peter Lorre, Ivor Barbard, and Marco Tulli) hoping to claim uranium-rich land in Kenya, various adventures quickly ensue &#8212; including Gwendolyn (Jones) falling for Billy (Bogart), and Billy&#8217;s wife Maria (Gina Lollobrigida) falling for Harry (Underdown).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>At Sea<\/li>\n<li>Black Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Con-Artists<\/li>\n<li>Get Rich Quick<\/li>\n<li>Humphrey Bogart Films<\/li>\n<li>Infidelity<\/li>\n<li>Jennifer Jones Films<\/li>\n<li>John Huston Films<\/li>\n<li>Peter Lorre Films<\/li>\n<li>Robert Morley Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary describes this &#8220;legendary lark&#8221; &#8212; &#8220;directed by John Huston, scripted by Huston and young writer Truman Capote, and starring Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones, Gina Lollobrigida, Robert Morley, and Peter Lorre&#8221; &#8212; as &#8220;the fifties&#8217; most peculiar A-budget film.&#8221; While it was &#8220;a flop at the box office, it immediately became known as a &#8216;cult film&#8217; and has remained a favorite of movie connoisseurs ever since.&#8221; Peary points out parallels between this and &#8220;the Huston-directed <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5698\"><em>The Maltese Falcon<\/em><\/a>,&#8221; in which Bogart plays &#8220;a tough, morally ambiguous hero who sidesteps his way through a corrupt world of greedy, double-dealing savages, outrageous flirts, and pathological liars&#8221; &#8212; however, in the case of <em>Beat the Devil<\/em>, Capote ultimately devised &#8220;a sly, one-of-a-kind spoof of all international-intrigue pictures and populate[d] it with a cockeyed, disparate group of people,&#8221; some of whom play &#8220;the film for comedy&#8221; while others continue to play it straight. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Morley.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Morley.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-73204\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Morley.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Morley-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Morley-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Morley-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Peary writes that in this film about a &#8220;boat trip from Italy to Africa,&#8221; &#8220;no one is happy with their station in life. Each wants what the other has&#8221; &#8212; and while &#8220;all hope the journey will result in personal happiness,&#8221; &#8220;as in most Huston films, characters fail at [their] missions&#8221; (though a few &#8220;reach some sort of fulfillment&#8221;).  <\/p>\n<p>Peary goes on to write that this &#8220;film has [a] unique Continental flavor (it was filmed in Ravello, a small coast town in Italy), hilarious, delectable moments, and wonderfully attitudinizing characters.&#8221; While he wishes &#8220;it had more coherence&#8230; and a couple of more serious, creepy scenes like the bit with the player piano&#8221;: <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Player-Piano.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Player-Piano.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-73195\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Player-Piano.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Player-Piano-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Player-Piano-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Player-Piano-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; he concedes that the film is &#8220;so disarming and so lionized by intelligent film fans that [he worries] it may be better than [he thinks].&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>In his <em>Cult Movies 2<\/em> book, Peary analyzes the film in greater depth, pointing out that the film&#8217;s &#8220;remarkable fascination&#8221; has &#8220;as much to do with its background&#8221; (including, crucially, hiring Capote to work on the script) &#8220;as with its zany characters, performances, and tone.&#8221; While it wasn&#8217;t well-received upon release, Peary argues that it has a sort of timeless, international quality, given that &#8220;the emotional, involved, chatty people in this film could mingle easily with those in a Jean Renoir film, particularly <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=73704\"><em>Rules of the Game<\/em> (1939)<\/a>.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Painting2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Painting2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-73202\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Painting2.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Painting2-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Painting2-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Painting2-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>He adds that &#8220;whatever their failings and degrees of pomposity, they believe in living life to its fullest&#8221; &#8212; yet they &#8220;have conflicting personalities&#8221; that make them a decidedly &#8220;disparate group,&#8221; with &#8220;even the married couples [not seeming] to belong together.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Lollobrigida-Bogart.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Lollobrigida-Bogart.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-73198\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Lollobrigida-Bogart.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Lollobrigida-Bogart-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Lollobrigida-Bogart-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Lollobrigida-Bogart-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Jones-Underdown.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Jones-Underdown.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-73199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Jones-Underdown.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Jones-Underdown-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Jones-Underdown-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Jones-Underdown-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The best performance of all is given by &#8220;Jones, once <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=45521\">the sainted Bernadette<\/a> but now a compulsive liar&#8230; Wearing a blond wig (!), gabbing nonstop, flirting with Billy, knitting, exercising (while Maria paints), Jones turns in a bravura performance that equals her only other comic role of note in Ernst Lubitsch&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=25345\"><em>Cluny Brown<\/em> (1946)<\/a>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Jones-Bathing.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Jones-Bathing.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-73203\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Jones-Bathing.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Jones-Bathing-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Jones-Bathing-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Jones-Bathing-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a> <\/p>\n<p>All the supporting players are game as well, making this a unique trip worth taking at least once. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Jennifer Jones as Gwendolyn Chelm<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Jones.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Jones.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-73193\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Jones.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Jones-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Jones-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Beat-the-Devil-Jones-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Truman Capote&#8217;s wildly unique screenplay:<br \/>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;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.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as a quirky cult favorite by a master director. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cult Movie<\/li>\n<li>Important Director<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?page_id=1458\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0046414\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tvguide.com\/movies\/beat-the-devil\/review\/2030119032\/\">TV Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/68277\/beat-the-devil#articles-reviews?articleId=81405\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;We simply mustn&#8217;t let anybody murder Harry.&#8221; Synopsis: When a British couple (Edward Underdown and Jennifer Jones) in an Italian port town meet up with a group of men (Humphrey Bogart, Robert Morley, Peter Lorre, Ivor Barbard, and Marco Tulli) hoping to claim uranium-rich land in Kenya, various adventures quickly ensue &#8212; including Gwendolyn (Jones) falling for Billy (Bogart), and Billy&#8217;s wife Maria (Gina Lollobrigida) falling for Harry (Underdown). Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: At Sea Black Comedy Con-Artists Get&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=73190\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=73190"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79135,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73190\/revisions\/79135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=73190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=73190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=73190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}