Review of Beat the Devil (1953) by David F — 21 Aug 2010

A bit of an odd duck scripted by the unique duo of John Huston and Truman Capote is a bit of an acquired taste - at times it almost plays like a satire of Huston's brilliant debut 'The Maltese Falcon' - complete with the re-teaming of Bogart and Lorre, with Robert Morley filling in for Sydney Greenstreet - not in menacing gravitas so much as sheer corpulence.

Lots of chicanery and conniving as we follow a motley crew of would-be land swindlers hoping to lay claim to vast deposits of uranium in Africa, but stuck in Italy and left to stew in their collective juices.

The characters are written and played as very broad caricatures - particularly Jennifer Jones' farcical role as the wife of a supposed English gentleman (played with just the right amount of clubby affectation by Edward Underdown).

The dialogue is at times very sophisticated and pithy, but somewhat tiring - by the time Scotland Yard man Bernard Lee shows up to get his men, you'll find it's not a moment too soon.