'Inferno' was originally filmed in 3D, but this film avoids the stupid gimmicks that plagued so many films in that brief genre ... such as the paddleballs that utterly ruined 'House of Wax' for me. In far too many 3D films, the actors are constantly chucking objects at the audience. We get none of that here, except for one medium close-up of Henry Hull flinging a burning paraffin lamp at the camera.
'Inferno' is shown on television in flat 2D format. Good news: even in 2D, 'Inferno' is a taut thriller that's well worth your attention. Robert Ryan usually fails to impress me, but he gives a riveting performance here as a millionaire who's had everything given to him his entire life, but who now must learn self-reliance in order to survive.
Ryan is cast as millionaire Donald Carson III ... and the roman numeral is an obvious tip-off that Carson's wealth is inherited. Carson's sluttish wife Geraldine (a fine performance by the sexy and underrated Rhonda Fleming) has been openly carrying on an affair with Carson's overseer Duncan. The three of them go on a trip into the desert together, where Carson breaks his leg. It's never established how this happened: did Carson break his leg in a genuine accident, or did Duncan 'accidentally' break it for him? Anyway, Geraldine and Duncan have decided to maroon her husband in the desert, dooming him to slow death by exposure while Geraldine inherits his millions.
SLIGHT SPOILERS COMING. Carson must learn to fend for himself, in a situation where his money is useless. In a sterling perfomance, Robert Ryan gradually *earns* our sympathy. There's a suspenseful scene in which Carson, crippled and starving, tries to snare a jackrabbit. When he finally succeeds, we cheer for him. But then a raptor snatches away the rabbit that Carson earned. During another tense sequence, Carson must lower himself down a desert cliffside without damaging his broken leg.
Henry Hull is an actor whom I've always found very mannered. Hull was a good actor when he played highly stylised roles (such as the title role in 'Werewolf of London', or 'Miracles for Sale' in which he played a conjuror), but Hull tended to give overripe performances when he was cast as a realistic human being. In 'Inferno', he gives a histrionic turn as a Gabby Hayes-type old coot of a hermit who lives in the desert. Hull's performance here is probably similar to his Broadway turn as Jeeter Lester in 'Tobacco Road'.
In September 2003, I attended a 3D movie festival at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles, where I saw 'Inferno' in its original format (with those silly cardboard glasses). As good as 'Inferno' is in flat format, it's even better in 3D. I'll go out on a limb and say that 'Inferno' is the greatest 3D movie ever. Underrated director Roy Ward Baker resists the urge to throw things at the 3D stereopticon cameras. Instead, he draws us *into* the frame, shooting the desert vistas in deep-focus tableaux that impress us with the vast width and length and depth of the desert in which Robert Ryan's crippled protagonist is trapped. There are several suspense films that effectively invoke claustrophobia, the fear of being trapped in an enclosed space. 'Inferno' is one of the very few films -- and the only 3D film -- to successfully instil in us a sense of the opposite fear: agoraphobia, the terror of being trapped in an *open* space, with no comforting walls or corners.
I have never seen any other film that uses the 3D process so effectively -- and with as much originality -- as it's used here. The fact that the 3D is used in the service of an excellent script and some fine performances -- instead of paddleball gimmicks -- makes this movie even more impressive, and more entertaining. I'll rate 'Inferno' 10 points out of 10. You'll enjoy it in 2D, but make every effort to see it in 3D.
'Inferno' is shown on television in flat 2D format. Good news: even in 2D, 'Inferno' is a taut thriller that's well worth your attention. Robert Ryan usually fails to impress me, but he gives a riveting performance here as a millionaire who's had everything given to him his entire life, but who now must learn self-reliance in order to survive.
Ryan is cast as millionaire Donald Carson III ... and the roman numeral is an obvious tip-off that Carson's wealth is inherited. Carson's sluttish wife Geraldine (a fine performance by the sexy and underrated Rhonda Fleming) has been openly carrying on an affair with Carson's overseer Duncan. The three of them go on a trip into the desert together, where Carson breaks his leg. It's never established how this happened: did Carson break his leg in a genuine accident, or did Duncan 'accidentally' break it for him? Anyway, Geraldine and Duncan have decided to maroon her husband in the desert, dooming him to slow death by exposure while Geraldine inherits his millions.
SLIGHT SPOILERS COMING. Carson must learn to fend for himself, in a situation where his money is useless. In a sterling perfomance, Robert Ryan gradually *earns* our sympathy. There's a suspenseful scene in which Carson, crippled and starving, tries to snare a jackrabbit. When he finally succeeds, we cheer for him. But then a raptor snatches away the rabbit that Carson earned. During another tense sequence, Carson must lower himself down a desert cliffside without damaging his broken leg.
Henry Hull is an actor whom I've always found very mannered. Hull was a good actor when he played highly stylised roles (such as the title role in 'Werewolf of London', or 'Miracles for Sale' in which he played a conjuror), but Hull tended to give overripe performances when he was cast as a realistic human being. In 'Inferno', he gives a histrionic turn as a Gabby Hayes-type old coot of a hermit who lives in the desert. Hull's performance here is probably similar to his Broadway turn as Jeeter Lester in 'Tobacco Road'.
In September 2003, I attended a 3D movie festival at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles, where I saw 'Inferno' in its original format (with those silly cardboard glasses). As good as 'Inferno' is in flat format, it's even better in 3D. I'll go out on a limb and say that 'Inferno' is the greatest 3D movie ever. Underrated director Roy Ward Baker resists the urge to throw things at the 3D stereopticon cameras. Instead, he draws us *into* the frame, shooting the desert vistas in deep-focus tableaux that impress us with the vast width and length and depth of the desert in which Robert Ryan's crippled protagonist is trapped. There are several suspense films that effectively invoke claustrophobia, the fear of being trapped in an enclosed space. 'Inferno' is one of the very few films -- and the only 3D film -- to successfully instil in us a sense of the opposite fear: agoraphobia, the terror of being trapped in an *open* space, with no comforting walls or corners.
I have never seen any other film that uses the 3D process so effectively -- and with as much originality -- as it's used here. The fact that the 3D is used in the service of an excellent script and some fine performances -- instead of paddleball gimmicks -- makes this movie even more impressive, and more entertaining. I'll rate 'Inferno' 10 points out of 10. You'll enjoy it in 2D, but make every effort to see it in 3D.