I am a big Jennifer Jones (JJ) fan and have recently completed a video collection of all her 24 films including the two versions:"Wild Heart/Gone to Earth" (1950).I therefore have had an opportunity to compare her very divers performances in each role.Now I think Selznick did JJ a great injustice by not producing/casting his wife in more comedy/thrillers like "Beat the Devil".She obviously had a comic gift which comes over perfectly as the congenital, lying, obsessed Gwendolynne Chelm "...my Spanish nurse said...".Apart from Cluny Brown (1946),it is a pity she was not cast in more comedy/thrillers like this instead of the nervy characters she often portrayed, she would for sure have had more hits where age was not critical unlike in say "A Farewell To Arms" (1957) in which she was too old to play effectively the part of Catherine Blakeley, the English nurse.Playing her role in "Beat The Devil" in a blond wig, she positively shines and I could not take my eyes off her even when La Lollo appeared in the same scene!Humphrey Bogart looks physically sagged down with the cancer which was soon to claim him in 1957 but he has some great lines from the pen of Truman Capote/John Huston.The more you watch "Beat the Devil", the more comic it becomes.I must have watched it 10 times by now as there is always something I miss on the previous viewings.I especially liked the "interview" with the menacing Arab potentate, with all the castaways all held for questioning.Even here is a joke as he is obsessed with the American actress,Rita Hayworth and appears to have a pin-up of her on his wall! All the cast shine and parody the characters they represent.The snobby English gentleman Harry Chelm (played by (Edward Underdown) in reality a "bloody refugee from Earls Court".The sinister German Irishman! (Peter Lorre) who has obviously taken refuge in South America - the traditional bolt hole for escaping Nazis after the collapse of the Third Reich.Comic baddy boss (Robert Morley) gives us a tour de force as Peterson - watch his wobbly double chins as he is harshly questioned about his purpose and reason for visiting the particular African country.The drunk excitable Italian skipper of the doomed vessel and of course the voluptous Italian firecracker played by Gina Lollobrigida.The line she has to Edward Underdown (who has a chill on his liver "too tiresome") is: "I've brought you tea and crumpets", appealed immensely to my bawdy English sense of humour and I'm sure La Lollo did not realise the affect this line would have on an English audience as she was speaking her lines phonetically at the time!This is a glorious romp of a film.
Review of Beat the Devil
