This second rate Huston lark, obviously made as a good time for all while having a European vacation, is a mildly amusing satire. It's not by any means, a masterpiece, nor is it hysterically funny. I love all the posers on these boards, anxious to show that they "get it", saying they laughed themselves sick watching it. Please.
shareI agree, Just got done watching it and was really let down. I love Bogie films but didn't care for this one one bit. But it does make me appreciate the classics such as Casablanca and In a Lonely Place more, and of course Sierra Maudre, and The Caine Mutiny. The only good part of this film to me was Jennifer Jones doing calastinics in that black baithing suit MeeeYooowww. So save yourself some time and please do yourself a favor and watch a real classic with Bogie.
shareAgreed. Not hilarious by any means but still enjoyable. Great cast.
shareI watched the version available on Netflix instant view. The picture quality was ok for a movie this old but the sound wasn't too great so I feel that I missed out on bits of the storyline. From what I got out of this movie, it was somewhat entertaining but like others said, quite a let down. I really like John Huston's movies, especially The Maltese Falcon, The African Queen and Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and I like other Humphrey Bogart movies too. Considering the incredible amount of talent involved in this movie, it was disapointing. I'd suggest any of the other movies I mentioned over this one any day.
shareConsidering the incredible amount of talent involved in this movie, it was disappointing.Sure nuff.
heyuactor wrote:
Sure nuff.It is disappointing if you expect it to be one thing based on all the talent, and it turns out to be something else.It is "something else," and I am not sure how to describe it, but if you get in touch with the movie, it is hilarious. I realize that is not easy to do.Expecting a movie to be one thing, and getting something else, interferes with enjoyment for most movies. share
very poor film. actors seemed to sleepwalk thru the flick, had some witty lines but a comedy, far from it. 4 out of 10
shareI thought this movie was a total mess. It didn't help that the DVD (Osiris Entertainment) I watched looked like someone made it in their basement using an old VHS machine and no remastering equipment to burn the disc. There are misspellings on the DVD menu, and the package. The liner says the movie is 80 minutes, when it's actually 90. My DVD player could only register an elapsed time, not track or total time remaining. The DVD registered that English subtitles were available, but they weren't encoded.
Like I said, a total mess from start to finish.
lastmidnite2 wrote:
It's not by any means, a masterpiece, nor is it hysterically funny.That was the way that I felt after the first two times I saw the film, but then one night, I ran into it on television, and it was hysterically funny. It has him remained hysterically funny ever since then and that is a long long time.
I love all the posers on these boards, anxious to show that they "get it", saying they laughed themselves sick watching it. Please.That's a jerky thing to say. Humor is notoriously subjective, and it is arrogant to assume that if you don't find something funny, anyone who does is a poser [sic]. In this case, I can assure you that the "posers [sic]" are right.
That was the way that I felt after the first two times I saw the film, but then one night, I ran into it on television, and it was hysterically funny. It has him remained hysterically funny ever since then and that is a long long time.
Somehow I managed to get in touch with it. I do not have any advice how someone else could do that. A couple of beers maybe. It is true of a lot of films, and other forms of fiction, that somehow "taking it the right way" is the key to really understanding and enjoying them.
I remember when my Dad brought this to watch on DVD. He said, "this movie was directed by John Huston, one if the greatest directors; stars Humphrey Bogart, the greatest actor of the era; and written by Truman Capote, one of the most famous writers of the 50s. This is sure to be great."
So we watched it, and I gave up after about 40 minutes. I was expecting an adventure tale, but the story got bogged down in this weird banter between the couples, and seemed more like a travelogue for the Italian scenery. My dad bravely stayed on watching till the end. I asked him if it got any better, or more exciting, like when the ship sinks and they're captured by Arabs (as it said on the back of the box). "Well, the scene where the ship sinks definitely wasnt like Titanic," he said.
Humphrey Bogart himself found the film to be forgettable, and said "only phonies like it." I think he was right on the mark.
~ I'm a 21st century man and I don't wanna be here.
Degree7 wrote:
This is sure to be great.Expecting a movie to be great is frequently the kiss of death. Few movies live up to an exaggerated expectation.
I was expecting an adventure taleExpecting a movie to be one thing, and getting something completely different, typically destroys enjoyment.This is a great movie, but it is not a conventional movie, and you have to get in tune with what it is doing.Do you think that Roger Ebert was a "phony"? He gave it four stars.Do you think the John Houston was a "phony"? He reportedly said to Jennifer Jones that "they'll remember you longer for 'Beat the Devil' than for 'Song of Bernadette.' " share
Hey, give me a break man, I was only 11 years old when I watched it :P
shareDegree7 wrote:
I was only 11 years old when I watched itAnd how old are you now when you decided to post your opinion from when you were 11 years old without identifying it as such?
:PI have no idea what that means. share
And Jennifer Jones is still much better known for Song of Bernadette.
sharelastmidnite2 wrote:
And Jennifer Jones is still much better known for Song of Bernadette.I think that is hard to say. I have never seen The Song of Bernadette myself. I have never seen it on a list of classic movies. Beat the Devil is widely regarded as a classic movie, and I first saw it because of all the people who were praising it.For what it is worth as far as which films have survived, Beat the Devil makes Roger Ebert's very long — I believe over 300 — great film list, and Bernadette does not.But this is all beside the point which is that John Houston thought that Beat the Devil would be remembered far longer than The Song of Bernadette, i.e. he did not agree with Bogart about it. share
I think you're generous to call it "mildly amusing". I've tried to watch it several times -- even bought the video for a buck (I want my money back!)-- and just can't make it to the end. Actually, that's not true. I once woke up after trying to watch it and saw the last few minutes and the credits.
Look at that friggen amazing ensemble! All of that talent in one movie, yet, it's an "epic fail" as the kids (or middle-aged) say.
I remember many moons ago Gina was on Letterman talking about this film. She had some very interesting anecdotes. She said that in the evening, the men would fight each other. Letterman said, "you mean, drink, and..."
"Not just drinking," she said animatedly. Boy, was she one spicy meatball! Mama Mia... She still looked great in the mid-1980s on Letterman.
"Not just drinking, fighting, (making boxing gestures) hitting each other. And, in the morning Humphrey Bogart always had another...(gestures a wound under her eye)".
"Because Truman Capote, who was writing, who was the smallest, always won!"
Then Letterman busts her cookies about Capote beating everyone up. She continues...
"Well, it happened. I was there." Up yours, Letterman. She continues her story about that cinematic abortion...
"Truman Capote fall in love with me, believe it or not, and kept writing me more lines. And Jennifer Jones didn't like that, because she was there with Selznick..."
Then, of course, Letterman interrupts, and that's the end of that story.
So, they're getting so wasted at night that their boxing each other, among other things, I'm sure. And it's being written ON THE RUN. Big surprise. It sounded like it was.
You know what it kind of reminds me of now that I think of it? It reminds of one of those many TV shows, like LOST (perfect title) that the writers DON'T think will be picked up. And when it does they panic and try to think up a plausible story to last a season of episodes.
It has a story, but a muddy story. And Truman never really does much with it, other than write the exquisite Gina a few more lines to piss-off JJ. Reason enough, I guess. But that's Hollyweird: get rid of the laundered money any way you can.
popedon1 wrote:
I've tried to watch it several times — even bought the video for a buck (I want my money back!)-- and just can't make it to the end.As with much unconventional comedy, you have to take it in the right way. I don't really have any advice about that, but you might try it after a few beers late at night. And if you once manage to see it as funny, it will stay funny forever.It really is one of the funniest movies that I've ever seen. share
Actually, in a way, that's really good advice, ppllkk. A change of POV can truly make viewing something a "totally" (said in my most severe Valley Girl accent) different experience.
When I was a teenager my favorite thing to do was go to rock concerts of my favorite groups. And I sure as funck didn't go sober. I'll tell ya, the first time I saw Heart, in a very old beautiful ornate theatre with great acoustics, I did my usual pot & liquor concert routine, as well as a very interesting drug that was popular in my part of the world for a few years. And during a song called, appropriately, "Devil's Delight", I peaked and had an almost nirvanic experience.
Of course we like what we like, and even drink & drug can do so much. You obviously like a more subtle dry humor, while one of the funniest movies I ever saw was WC Field's The Bank Dick. And, as I like to say when my mother is in earshot just to bust her balloons, The Three Stooges taught me everything I (don't) know!
Well, thanks for the suggestion. Take care. ;9)B
popedon1 wrote:
one of the funniest movies I ever saw was WC Field's The Bank DickI agree with you about that.
You obviously like a more subtle dry humor,Yes, but I did not like Beat the Devil the first two times that I saw it, and then something clicked.This has happened with other movies, but not so dramatically as here. I don't know how to get something to click, and I don't think that beer is in general the answer, but it seemed to help here. share
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