A Bag of Loot

'Beat the Devil' makes fun of imperialism

By Richard von Busack
T HE 1954 COMEDY Beat the Devil is one of the few movies released in the
America of that era that was based on a novel written by a communist. The
Irish journalist Claud Cockburn penned the satire under the name James
Helvick; his son, Alexander, still publishes a political column in The Nation
named in honor his father's most memorable work. To use the title of
Alexander's own book of essays, the movie is a comedy about "corruptions of
empire." The adventure of a few shady men trying to rip off Kenya holds up a
cracked mirror to imperial pretensions--specifically British imperial
pretensions. Beat the Devil caricatures the white man's burden as a bag of loot.
It's a sly film indeed that can offer a scene of Peter Lorre giving a lecture on
the importance of trustworthiness.

Cockburn's story is filtered through Truman Capote and John Huston's

dialogue and given a change of scenery, from Franco's Spain to a dusty if
handsome corner of Italy. Billy Dannreuther (Humphrey Bogart) has a tip on
some uranium fields in Africa, and he's waiting, with several fellow
adventurers, for transport there. They're terrified of being discovered, and as
the story begins, an extra note of urgency is sounded: one of their number,
Maj. Ross (Ivor Barnard), a hit-man with Rosicrucian sympathies, has knifed
someone important in London.

During the forced wait, Dannreuther's wife, Maria (Gina Lollobrigida), takes a
liking to a young upper-class Englishman named Harry Chelm (Edward
Underdown). Fortunately for Dannreuther, Chelm has a neglected wife:
Jennifer Jones, looking better in cat's-eye sunglasses than anyone has ever
looked since. Her Gwendolen is such a devoted reader of romantic fiction that
she can't help concocting unlikely explanations for why Dannreuther and his
crew are lying around soaking up the sun and the Cinzano. "I think you're
doctors. Evil ones, I mean," she decides. Perhaps Dannreuther's companions
do look like graduates of the same med school that matriculated Moreau,
Mabuse, Moriarty, Frankenstein and Julius No. His partners include Robert
Morley, subbing for Sydney Greenstreet, and Lorre (as a German-accented
"Mr. O'Hara"), his hair dyed an alarming platinum blond.

Beat the Devil suggests a remake of Huston's own The Maltese Falcon written
by Joe Orton and Oscar Wilde. Supposedly, Bogart loathed the picture.
Possibly this is because he sunk his money in it, and it, in turn, sank. ("Only
phonies like it," Bogart used to grouse.) Too bad Bogart was blind to its
merits; he displays ascot-wearing, rotting handsomeness and keen, raspy wit.
It's a warm but acrid sunset performance, and it inspired a well-deserved cult.
If Beat the Devil doesn't make a lot of logical sense, forgive it: as one
character here sighs, "Charm and dependability so seldom go in the same
package."

Beat the Devil (1954; 89 min.), directed by John Huston, written by Truman Capote and
Huston, based on the novel by Claud Cockburn (as James Helvick), photographed by
Oswald Morris and starring Humphrey Bogart and Jennifer Jones.

http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/01.29.98/beat-devil-9804.html

Conferences & Symposia

The Impact of Film on Law, Lawyers, and the Legal System

March 31st & April 1st, 2006

Over the past ten years there has been an explosion in the number of books published that
explore the connection between law and film. During the same period the advent of relatively
inexpensive emerging media technologies impacted on the production of new work, especially new
documentary work. The relative ease with which films can be made and even marketed today
raises interesting questions about the relationship of law to film and filmmaking. The legal
academy's increasing fascination with film is reflected in the growing number of courses dedicated
to exploring law in film or making wide-spread use of film in teaching students about law.
Films have always reflected prevailing attitudes about law, lawyers and the legal system. But
some legal scholars, like Richard Sherwin, argue that contemporary films, whether feature films,
documentaries or docudramas, unduly influence legal culture as well. "Real legal issues and
controversies give rise to popular legal representations just as popular legal representations help
to inform and shape real legal issues and case outcomes" (Sherwin, 2000). This is particularly
true of documentary or nonfiction films. The prominence and availability of documentary films on
political issues during the 2004 presidential election raises interesting questions about the impact
of film on democratic institutions and democracy in general.

During this day and a half symposium law professors, filmmakers, film critics and film industry
officials will discuss some of these questions and explore other issues related to the impact of film
on law, lawyers and the legal system.

This Program is funded in part by a generous grant from the France-Merrick Foundation to the
University of Maryland School of Law's Linking Law & the Arts Series.

http://www.law.umaryland.edu/faculty/conferences/detail.html?conf=24