LeonLouisRicci Abysmal and Abstract, Off Center and Eccentric. in Other Words an Intellectual Hubris that Assumes Everyone will be in on the Joke. Most were Not and Even Those that were or at Least Pretended to be had to Take a Deep Breath and Say that They Liked it with a Curious Gurgle as if the Accolades got Stuck in the Throat.Because, Truth be Told, it is One of Those Train-Wrecks of a Film that is Jaw Droppingly Bad that the Brain Cannot Process how So Many Talented People Could be Involved in such a Mess. They must have All been Drunk, the Mind Says in Disbelief, and the Mind is Probably Right.The Movie Looks Awful, and that is Not a Comment on the Horrendous Public Domain Prints that are in the Bargain Bins, it is a Comment on the Film and how Awful it Looks. It is an Ugly Movie, Full of Ugly Actors, or in Humphrey Bogart's Case, Just Sickly. Every Male Character is Repulsive and Even More so when Placed Alongside Gina Lola Bregeda and Jennifer Jones. Both are Married too and Cheating on Their Respective Repulsive Husbands. This is a Joke Right? Ha Ha! Not Funny.There are a Few Funny Lines Sprinkled Through this Turgid Satire but Not Enough to Make it Much More than Anything of a Curiosity to Watch All of these Folks Go Through the Motions of the Movies Pretentiousness. To Illustrate just How Unfunny it is, Notice how Many Times the Ship's Captain Screams and Screams in Italian No Less. Loud and Louder Until the Ears Give Up and Any Attempt at Farce is Buried Under Decibels of Noise.Everyone is Thickly Accented and Much of the Time Hard to Understand, Not the Best Thing is a Wordy, "Witty", Film. Jennifer Jones Steals the Movie but that Wasn't Hard, Everyone Else just Falls Flat and Fails to Make Much of an Impression. The Movie Seems Like it was Made by Intelligent Drunks on a Bender for Intelligent Drunks on a Bender. That's a Pretty Small Audience, like that of a Cult Movie.

arfdawg-1 Odd film. Made as a parody of the Maltese Falcon.Filmed on the fly, with Huston writing parts each day as he filmed.It has the look of one of those later Orson Welles films he made with his own money.It's worth a watch, but no where near as good as the Maltese Falcon.The synopsis:A quartet of international crooks -- Peterson, O'Hara, Ross and Ravello -- is stranded in Italy while their steamer is being repaired. With them are the Dannreuthers. The six are headed for Africa, presumably to sell vacuum cleaners but actually to buy land supposedly loaded with uranium. They are joined by others who apparently have similar designs.

dougdoepke No need to recap what amounts to an incoherent plot.Only Bogart seems not in on the joke. Instead, he soldiers through as if this mess were Casablanca 2. Trouble is it was his production company Santana that took the hit when the movie flopped. He blamed director Huston, so their fruitful collaboration was permanently ruptured. Too bad. But the rest of the cast appears to be having a good time and why not. Here they are on the Italian Riviera, expenses paid, with few thespic demands. Heck, they just as well be on holiday. Certainly a blondined Jennifer Jones is having fun, as she turns in the most over-the-top performance since her over-heated senorita in Duel in the Sun (1946). Watch her smirk her way through every scene. Then there's rotund Robert Morley wallowing in his Britishness, while a diminutive Ivor Barnard strains at the leash like a rabid Chihuahua. Add a peek-a-boo Peter Lorre appearing unsure he's even in the movie, and you have a highly professional cast making a mockery. But then why should they take the proceedings seriously since the script was often put together the night before (Truman Capote). Maybe others can laugh at the results, a delicious jape, as it were. I can't. On seeing the results, Bogart called the movie "a mess". As usual, he was right.

randysr Just desserts are dished out with glee in this 'crime drama'. Each character is built up to be disliked enough that when the hammer comes down on them, the result are hilarious. No character ever rises above 'amoral' and most are just downright sleazy, so when each little plot is foiled, it's just more icing on this cake of a movie. The supposed main plot of the movie is vague, and takes a back seat to the characters who slowly sink in the quicksand of their behavior throughout the movie. Humphrey Bogart plays the 'arranger' for a quartet of the most inept criminals in movie history. How they got together, no one knows. What they did before: who cares? What their brilliant caper is? Something about uranium and Africa I think. None of that matters. What matters is the expressions on their faces as one by one their ideas fail, their schemes implode, their Machiavellian machinations collide like bumper cars at the amusement park. They discuss murder, robbery, infidelity with banter lighter than air. Each of the actors plays their parts perfectly straight, one has to wonder if any of them were clued in on this prank noir. This is John Huston to the hilt, no holds barred, no character flaw left unexploited. A must see for any Huston fan. People that take their movies too seriously, may not 'get it', so your mileage may vary.