Beat the Devil (1953): watch the full film free, legally

Swindlers waiting for passage

Released in 1953, Beat the Devil is an adventure comedy directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones and Gina Lollobrigida, making her American debut. Huston and Truman Capote wrote the screenplay from Claud Cockburn’s 1951 novel, published under the name James Helvick. Huston conceived the film as a loose parody of his 1941 Bogart film The Maltese Falcon. Capote said that he and Huston chose to kid the story and treat it as a parody, making it a spoof of that type of film rather than another Maltese Falcon.

Bogart plays Billy Dannreuther, a formerly wealthy American now working reluctantly with Peterson, Julius O’Hara, Major Jack Ross and Ravello. The group intends to swindle its way to land containing uranium deposits in British East Africa. While they wait at a small Italian port for a tramp steamer bound for Mombasa, Billy suspects that Ross murdered a British colonial officer in London who had threatened to expose the plan.

Billy and his wife Maria meet Harry and Gwendolen Chelm, a British couple travelling to Kenya, where Harry expects to manage a coffee plantation. Harry appears proper and traditional, while Gwendolen is flighty and habitually lies. Billy begins an affair with Gwendolen, as Maria flirts with Harry. Peterson, who finances the scheme, grows suspicious that the Chelms want the uranium land for themselves. Gwendolen’s exaggerations about Harry’s importance make that suspicion seem plausible.

A voyage turns unstable

Billy and Peterson decide to take a plane instead of the steamer, but their car runs away while they are pushing it and goes over a cliff. Reports say they have been killed. Ravello then tells Harry about the uranium scheme, only for Billy and Peterson to return to the hotel alive. Soon, the steamer’s purser announces that its tippling captain is ready to sail.

On board, Harry says he knows about Peterson’s plan and will report it to the authorities. Peterson orders Ross to kill him, but Billy prevents the attempt. The captain refuses to believe Harry’s accusations and has him handcuffed in his room. When the ship’s engine fails, the passengers must take to a lifeboat. Billy goes to release Harry and finds that Harry has escaped, apparently intending to swim ashore. The stranded party reaches a North African beach, where Arab soldiers arrest them and an official named Ahmed interrogates them on suspicion of spying or revolutionary activity.

Writing during the shoot

The Woolf brothers financed the picture after making The African Queen and Moulin Rogue with Huston. The screenplay was written and revised as filming continued. During production, Bogart lost several teeth in a car accident. Peter Sellers, then unknown internationally and skilled at voice imitation, was hired to dub lines while Bogart could not speak clearly. Stephen Sondheim worked on the film as a clapper boy.

Much of the filming took place in Ravello, above Italy’s Amalfi Coast. The film uses the central piazza before the cathedral and several local cafes. Nearby Atrani provided other locations, including the pool area of the Hotel Convento Luna. Following previews, four minutes were removed, and the film was reedited with Bogart voiceover narration and a flashback structure.

Howard Thompson wrote in The New York Times that the film was “a pointedly roguish and conversational spoof,” though he felt it generally missed the novel’s “bite, bounce and decidedly snug construction.” Bogart reportedly disliked the film, possibly because he lost much of his own money financing it. Roger Ebert included it in The Great Movies and observed that it has been characterized as the first camp film. In August 2016, an uncut version premiered at The Reel Thing Technical Symposium after a 4K restoration by Sony Pictures with The Film Foundation, overseen by Grover Crisp. Four minutes were restored, bringing its running time to 93 or 94 minutes.

Film details from the Wikipedia article “Beat the Devil (film)”. Text adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0.