Reviews

Ostensibly, this is a brilliant portrayal of a man trying to come to terms with the tragic loss of his partner ... but it's so much more.

I am not sure where to begin with this film ... there are so many themes running through which are all tied together brilliantly with "asides" to urban myths.

The style of the film is delightfully offbeat, almost neo-noir but not quite. Although has the look of being dark and brooding, it isn't. It certainly made all of us watching sit back and think once it was over. (Dean SO deserved copping it at the end.)

I gave it 9/10 .... and look forward to watching it again and again.

I watched Beat the Devil last night from a DVD I purchased recently, and frankly I wasn't impressed.

The reason I bought it I suppose was the cast list ... an excellent roll up it is too. But really I did not enjoy the film ... it just didn't seem to get up off the ground at all. Before I knew it, there was what I imagined to be a climax towards the end, then it finished. (Maybe I should watch it a few more times?)

The stars put together for the film seemed to play out their Hollywood stereotypical roles well ... Peter Lorre as the nervous little "illegal alien" type, Robert Morley as the pompous Englishman, etc. I really don't see how Bogart could have been a "sex symbol" in this one? Gina was just gorgeous as always.

I did enjoy the humour of the film though. It was subtle but it was there. Some quite funny moments.

The DVD I have is of a very poor quality. The picture is very scratchy and the sound is bad. (Gina was extremely difficult to understand in some parts.)

I watched this movie last night for the first time for about 20 years and I wonder why I waited so long. I bought the DVD and the sound & colour (especially the latter) are just excellent. Of special interest is the court-room scene towards the end with Bogart going off his rocker. If anything at all spoiled the movie for me was the love interest, which I thought to be totally unnecessary & irrelevant to the rest of the story. I can't wait for the next rainy Sunday afternoon so I can enjoy this movie again.

I must admit at the outset that Jimmy Cagney is not my favourite Hollywood personality, though I did enjoy this movie. (I just can't help thinking that he's going to break out into "Yankee Doodle" any minute). I thought this to be an interesting drama, with a bit of action (thought the martial arts scenes left a lot to be desired) and good performances by the leads. The story was great and that alone was enough to keep me interested all the way through. It seemed to be trying to be "noir" by having most of the elements of a true noir there, but as a whole I wouldn't classify it as such. Worth a look. The DVD copy I bought is excellent, a really clear copy with great sound.