Today’s quick review: Beat the Devil. Billy Dannreuther (Humphrey Bogart) and his dubious associates are bound for Africa, where a fortune in crooked uranium awaits them. While waiting for their ship in a small town, Billy and his wife Maria (Gina Lollobrigida) become entangled with a curious British couple: Harry Chelm (Edward Underdown), a seeming gentleman, and his wife Gwendolen (Jennifer Jones), an imaginative woman who takes an interest in Billy.
Beat the Devil is a crime comedy that features an enjoyable cast, sharp dialogue, and an elaborate setup. The movie follows Billy, Gwendolen, and their spouses and colleagues as they brave a series of mishaps to seek their fortunes overseas. However, Beat the Devil’s strengths are tempered by its subdued humor and a meandering plot. The result is a pleasant but insubstantial watch that can’t match the classics of the mid-20th century.
Beat the Devil is more setup than payoff. The premise is overly complex, a difficult scheme involving stolen mineral rights, a troublesome voyage, and a preemptive murder. The core elements of the plot work well enough, but tracking the plans of the characters is an exercise in itself. The conclusion to the story falls short of the steps taken together, and several promising plot threads end up amounting to little.
Still, Beat the Devil does have qualities that make it a charming watch. Humphrey Bogart and Jennifer Jones get along splendidly, Bogart as an unflappable criminal and Jones as a lively fabulist. The movie has a dry, tongue-in-cheek sense of humor that deliberately undermines the gravity of its cast. Rather than the striking figures of a straight adventure, Beat the Devil’s characters are all a bit skewed, recognizable archetypes with little comic twists.
Give Beat the Devil a shot when you’re in the mood for a classic-style comedy with a good cast and a decent sense of humor. The gags are far from outstanding and the plot is more trouble than it’s ultimately worth, but Beat the Devil does show enough quality to please fans of the genre. Skip it if you’re looking for a more memorable comedy or one that makes better use of its plot. For a more polished movie in a similar vein, check out Charade.
6.6 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 7.0 for fine acting and a decent script, held back by unneeded complexity and a limp payoff.