Search - Humphrey Bogart: Beat The Devil on DVD

Good Movie, Terrible DVD Production

Beren De Hora | 02/07/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"The movie itself is great. It's funny with some great performances from brilliant actors. The producers of the DVD however have ruined the picture with very poor image quality, the worst I have seen in any reproduction of movies from that era. In addition, the "delta" insignia flashes on and off the screen intermittantly, distracting you from the show. The introduction and end comments from Tony Curtis are poorly edited in to the movie itself taking from the movie experience. Get the movie but not this version!"

My Favorite Cult Classic!

Joseph P. Reel | Pacific Grove, California United States | 08/07/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"WARNING! Numerous dirt cheap, inferior quality transfers are available since this film has slipped into public domain. Order the Front Row Entertainment (Canada) edition for a few extra bucks and really enjoy the superior picture and sound quality of this cult favorite. If you don't find it on Amazon, you may have to search the Web for this edition.

1953 critics and audiences alike, anticipating a serious drama, missed the point of this noir-satire that delightfully lampooned the genre. While bombing at the box office, it eventually became a cult classic when audiences realized they were supposed to have as much fun viewing it as the actors had in making it. Knowing about the stormy frustrations and dysfunctions that went on behind-the-scenes makes viewing even more enjoyable.

The principle stars seem to delight in portraying the on-screen personas and stereotypes for which they were already famous. Tough guy Humphrey Bogart spits out wisecracks with the nonchalance we have come to expect. Gina Lollobrigida brings her predictable fiery Latin-tempered performance to the screen, along with her paparazzi-hounded cleavage. Despite his bizarre bleach-blond buzz cut, Peter Lorre remains true to the character spoofed by so many impersonators on the Ed Sullivan Show. Instead of "Did you get the information?" his most memorable line for this outing becomes, "Time is a thief." The portly Robert Morely fits comfortably into his role as the foppish English con man. The lovely Jennifer Jones, however, stepped outside of her better-known characterizations to display her rarely seen comedic talent as an intelligent but seemingly ditsy neurotic with an overactive imagination.

I watch Beat the Devil periodically whenever I need relief from media reporting on the rather dismal state of global affairs. I suspect I'll be returning to it for some time to come.



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I bet they all had fun making this one

Jonathan Lapin | Brooklyn, NY USA | 04/22/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"john huston and humphrey bogart team up yet again for this noir spoof about smugglers caught in a place they cant escape from, with robert morley in the sydney greenstreet role, and peter lorre in the peter lorre role. probably more fun if youre a bigger fan of the genre than i am, and sadly the print is not in the best of shape, so ive taken away one * as a penalty.
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