MovieChat Forums > Beat the Devil (1953) Discussion > Great funny movie !

Great funny movie !

posted 9 years ago by nalini-kluth-735-879554
3 replies | jump to latest

I did not expect much, when I picked "Beat the Devil" to watch today. But what I got exceeded my expectations by far. Expecting an average noir thriller, I got instead one of the most hilarious movies I have seen in years. It is not laughing out loud comedy, but it evokes at least a chuckle in almost every scene - much more than e.g. a "modern classic" like "Pineapple Express", which was supposed to be funny, but was in fact boring as hell.

Great scenery (Salerno), great script (I attribute most of it to Capote) and great performances (Bogart, Lorre, Morley and the rest of the cast). The story is plain silly and unimportant, but the dialogues are comedy gold.

Watch it and enjoy ! Highly recommended !

Nali

PS: It is easy to watch on archive.org or youtube.

[–] ppllkk 9 years ago

nalini-kluth-735-879554 wrote:

I did not expect much, when I picked "Beat the Devil" to watch today.

That is really the way to watch it a first time. If you watch it because you were told that it is a great movie — it is a great movie — it will almost undoubtedly not live up to your expectations because it is not like other "great" movies.It is not a great film noir. Or a great adventure story. Or a great laugh out loud comedy. But it is certainly a great something, and it is hilarious if you do not expect it to be what it isn't trying to be.

[–] tseybert 9 years ago

That is a great way to put it.

I saw it about 1990 on late night TV. I was a big Bogart fan but I hadn't really seen that many of his movies - Casablanca, To Have and Have Not, The Maltese Falcon, The African Queen - but I was watching TV and they said "coming up next, Beat the Devil, with Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre" and I says to myself, I says "Nice. Never heard of it. I'll give it a try."

I owned a cheap low-quality VHS tape for a while, and I got it on DVD for 99 cents, so I've had plenty of chances to see it over and over. But nothing matches that first time going "WTF!" every two or three minutes for an hour and a half.

I think the best scene that first time was Ivor Barnard ranting and raving in the bar, talking about the Illuminati and Hitler's good points.

Janet! Donkeys!

[–] DracTarashV 8 years ago

I'm certainly not a fan of the Franco & Rogen master team, but, even I'll admit that their modern stoner "classic" is very watchable.

Anyways, while I can't say some of it wasn't tedious to me, the clever dialogue, memorable scenery and exceptional performances in this film are all impressive and fun to watch. The subtle humor is great.

Hey there, Johnny Boy, I hope you fry!