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Humphrey Bogart was a Broadway stage player and B movie actor of some considerable note before he made the transition into super stardom, a feat finally achieved with High Sierra in 1941. Perhaps best known for his gangster roles, Bogart was sent to the electric chair no fewer than twelve times and was sentenced to more than 800 years of hard labour in prison! Here are two films in which he does neither, although he is killed off in Call It Murder! Beat The Devil A group of international crooks and conmen are stranded in Italy whilst their steamer is repaired. Along with the Dannreuther s, they are headed for Africa, supposedly to sell vacuum cleaners but with an eye to buying land enriched with uranium. Call It Murder A crime of passion murder leads to Ethel Saxon being sentenced to death in the electric chair. Just as the sentence is to be carried out, the jury foreman's daughter confesses to having killed her lover, with the forman having to help his daughter avoid the chair.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Call It Murder! is a bit bizarre and has some aspects of a silent - the film is about a moral dilemma and the plot is designed to focus on that. From today's viewpoint the film is very slow and though one can make allowances for the passage of years and the changes in how films are made it still drags a bit. There is an interesting cameo in the shape of the lazy work shy brother in law radio enthusiast who has some funny lines but the film centres on the moral dilemma and mental anguish of a father. HB is not the main character. I enjoyed watching but can't say much more than that.
Beat The Devil is much more entertaining but is an un-restored print so quality is sometimes poor but one can overlook that. Robert Morley is a Sydney Greenstreet alike and there is even a scene which to my eyes is a reference to The Maltese Falcon when Sydney and Humph first meet in that film - and as it contains also Peter Lorre none the worse for that. Indeed it has been suggested that it was intended by Director Huston as a tongue-in-cheek spoof of his earlier masterpiece, The Maltese Falcon, and of films of its genre. It is a comedy thriller which is comic rather than hilarious and the thrills are what might be described, on the back of a DVD in the notes next to the PG rating, as 'mild peril'. It is a kind of caper movie although there is no caper as such just a plan for a scam. In a full restoration of picture quality and maybe with some editing from a modern perspective, just to speed up the cutting a little bit, this would be a bigger seller. As it is I enjoyed it and will watch it again but can only give 4 stars. My three stars above is for the combination box set.
Beat The Devil is much more entertaining but is an un-restored print so quality is sometimes poor but one can overlook that. Robert Morley is a Sydney Greenstreet alike and there is even a scene which to my eyes is a reference to The Maltese Falcon when Sydney and Humph first meet in that film - and as it contains also Peter Lorre none the worse for that. Indeed it has been suggested that it was intended by Director Huston as a tongue-in-cheek spoof of his earlier masterpiece, The Maltese Falcon, and of films of its genre. It is a comedy thriller which is comic rather than hilarious and the thrills are what might be described, on the back of a DVD in the notes next to the PG rating, as 'mild peril'. It is a kind of caper movie although there is no caper as such just a plan for a scam. In a full restoration of picture quality and maybe with some editing from a modern perspective, just to speed up the cutting a little bit, this would be a bigger seller. As it is I enjoyed it and will watch it again but can only give 4 stars. My three stars above is for the combination box set.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
This two awful films come under the misleading title Silver Screen Collection.I bought them attracted because the
bargain price offered but probably NEVER WOULD WATCH THEM AGAIN!:The plot is dull and stupid,the transfers are very
bad,clearly humphrey Bogart worked at his best when have to prove himself against other good actors with the big
studios,one film was done by Bogart's own film company just before he died and the other was a young bogart
appearing just 10 minutes.rate:cero stars.veredict:do not buy at any cost.
bargain price offered but probably NEVER WOULD WATCH THEM AGAIN!:The plot is dull and stupid,the transfers are very
bad,clearly humphrey Bogart worked at his best when have to prove himself against other good actors with the big
studios,one film was done by Bogart's own film company just before he died and the other was a young bogart
appearing just 10 minutes.rate:cero stars.veredict:do not buy at any cost.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
Till I ill-advisedly bought this boxed pair of dogs I'd not seen Bogart in any particularly bad films. Some good and some very good, maybe one or two a little on the average side, but this pair of truly awful flicks needs consigned to the bin unless for some reason you feel you have to see every screen appearance Humph made.
The dvd transfer quality is consistent with the quality of the movies...
In my case it was just curiosity drove me to get them, but as soon as I've posted this review they're straight onto Ebay as there is absolutely no chance I'll ever watch them again. "Call it Murder" has to be a contender for one of the worst, least professional pieces of third rate trash ever filmed - Bogart's screen time is just several minutes - he's a bit player in it. "Beat the Devil" is less dire overall, hence the second star in my score, but even so you'd have to be pretty desperate to find much entertainment in its tedious & very silly plot.
The dvd transfer quality is consistent with the quality of the movies...
In my case it was just curiosity drove me to get them, but as soon as I've posted this review they're straight onto Ebay as there is absolutely no chance I'll ever watch them again. "Call it Murder" has to be a contender for one of the worst, least professional pieces of third rate trash ever filmed - Bogart's screen time is just several minutes - he's a bit player in it. "Beat the Devil" is less dire overall, hence the second star in my score, but even so you'd have to be pretty desperate to find much entertainment in its tedious & very silly plot.
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