Review: Fire Down Below (1957)

Cynical Robert Mitchum and good-natured idealist Jack Lemmon are a couple of smugglers in the Caribbean who agree to ferry a mystery woman presumably in trouble (Rita Hayworth) illegally from island to island. Both men fall in love with her, but Mitchum wins out because they’re both like-minded people. Meanwhile, Lemmon is left embittered and drunk for losing out. And then tragedy strikes. Bernard Lee plays a doctor, Herbert Lom is a conflicted harbour master, Anthony Newley plays a contact of Mitchum’s, and Edric Conner is Jimmy Jean, the loyal first mate.

 

No, not the late 90s Steven Seagal flick, but a 1957 Robert Parrish (“Lucy Gallant”, “Saddle the Wind”) star vehicle. The film starts terrifically, and features top work by Mitchum and especially Lemmon. Even when it switches gears and becomes more of a disaster/rescue movie it still works, largely because of Lemmon’s excellent, likeable performance. Unfortunately it nearly gets torpedoed by one of the most inappropriate, dishearteningly cynical endings to any motion picture I have seen. It appears to have come in from another film altogether and made me truly despise Hayworth’s character. I don’t think that was the intended reaction, somehow. Some have suggested a reading where Lemmon’s character is somehow a representative of toxic masculinity, but I can’t see that at all given the era the film was made in and how the characters are actually portrayed in the film (and who they’re portrayed by). No, I think they just went the wrong direction in the end.

 

Other than that rather major flaw, this is a most enjoyable B-picture classed-up by a trio of A-grade stars. There’s also a nice small turn by character actor Lom, in a rare nice guy role. Scripted by Irwin Shaw (“War and Peace”), from a novel by Max Catto (“The Devil at 4 O’Clock”), the film is still worth a look if you’re a fan of the three stars. It’s entertaining, but lumpy and ends on a real downer. The lovely Trinidad scenery sure does help.

 

Rating: B-

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Hellraiser (2022)

Recovering junkie Odessa A’zion accompanies scuzzy boyfriend Drew Starkey on a break-in where all they find is a weird puzzle box. A’zion later opens the box and after some weird shit happens, A’zion and Starkey figure it might be a good idea to learn more about this messed up trinket. Goran Visnjic plays a millionaire who possessed the box before our protagonist nicked it.   Is there any point in remaking/rebooting “Hellraiser” when the 1987 adaptation of Clive Barker’s original text was written and directed by Barker himself? And is considered a horror classic? On evidence here, absolutely not. Directed by David Bruckner ( “The Signal” ) and scripted by Ben Collins ( “The Night House” ) and Luke Piotrowski (ditto) this is an entirely tedious affair. I took a long time to get on board with the 1987 “Hellraiser” , I have to admit. It was wildly imaginative and original, like a nightmare transplanted on to film. However, the characters were stone cold and left me similarly chilly t
Read more

Review: Cinderella (1950)

The story of poor young Cinderella (voiced by Ilene Woods), treated as a servant by her nasty stepmother (voiced by Eleanor Audley), and dismissed by her thoroughly rotten, ugly stepsisters. Her only friends are a group of mice, who are forever being menaced by a cat named Lucifer (or as I call him, Grumpy Cheshire Cat). The King (hoping to find a wife for his charming son) is throwing a ball and every available young woman is invited to attend, and Cinderella is most excited to go. However, her stepmother and stepsisters do all they can to prevent this from happening. But with help from the mice and one fairy godmother (voiced by Verna Felton) later, and Cinderella looks set to attend the ball. You know the rest, folks.   Lovely 1950 Disney animated movie from directors Clyde Geronimi ( “Peter Pan” , “Lady and the Tramp” ), Wilfred Jackson ( “Fantasia” , “Alice in Wonderland” , “Peter Pan” ) & Hamilton Luske ( “Pinocchio” , “Fantasia” , “Peter Pan” ), that is a bit too s
Read more

Review: Eugenie de Sade

Eugenie (Soledad Miranda) makes a deathbed confession to author/biographer (Jesus ‘Jess’ Franco himself), recounting the tale of how her depraved stepfather (Paul Muller) groomed her into a life of depravity, debauchery, and murder.   Not to be confused with the similarly titled “Eugenie…The Story of Her Journey into Perversion” (by the same director) or “Justine de Sade” (which is not to be confused with Franco’s own “Justine” for that matter), this 1973 Marquis de Sade adaptation from writer-director Jesus Franco ( “99 Women” , “A Virgin Among the Living Dead” ) is perhaps the perfect marriage of Franco, sleazy material, and actors. Basically this is what Franco’s “She Killed in Ecstasy” might’ve been like if it were based on a Marquis de Sade work. There’s a few slow spots here and there, but overall I actually think this is Franco’s best film. Yes, even better than my previous choice “Vampyros Lesbos” , and better than his more ‘respectable’ films like “Count Dracula” (a
Read more