The gruff bullying director John Huston hiring the fey young Truman Capote to coauthor a script parodying "The Maltese Falcon" (a movie that was seminal in Huston's career as well as Humphrey Bogart's) is hard to imagine even after having seen the result (for the third time, I think). What happens sends up much of the collected work of Humphrey Bogart. An African uranium claim takes the place of the black bird, but instead of being a detective, Bogart plays a variation on the omnicompetent hipster who doesn't want to get involved, but nonetheless does (as in "Casablanca," "To Have and Have Not" and more."

The voluptuous (even her name sounds voluptuous!) Gina Lollobrigida is no match in determination or cunning for Mary Astor or Lauren Bacall, but her character (Maria) seems to be in a not particularly intimate relationship with Bogart, perhaps because he has lost his fortune. The woman who is fascinated by Bogart is a surprising (to anyone familiar with her work in anything other than "Cluny Brown") Jennifer Jones. She is closer to Miss Marple than to being a femme fatale, and seems to have been having a very good time as an eager British(!) blonde (!) stalled in Italy with her husband (the hypochondriac Harry Chelm played by Edward Underdown).

Billy (Bogart) has been retained by a very international group of schemers headed by Robert Morley in the portly, somewhat bemused Sydney Greenstreet role. Peter Lorre is back from various other Bogart films to play the sneak, etc. The trigger-happy small-in-stature fool is played by an aging Ivor Barnard--and is considerably less amusing than Elishu Cook, Jr. as a toy opponent for Bogie.

Although verging on stereotype, the character I find most amusing is the purser of the boat played by Mario Perrone. He doesn't have lines as good as Claude Rains's in "Casablanca," but is the sensible cynical character here.

There is actually a lot of plot for a short (100-minute) movie, but the pleasure is primarily provided by the incongruous congerie of characters. Enjoyment of it is considerably enhanced, I'm sure, by familiarity with other vehicles for Bogart, Jones, and Lollobrigida. 1954 audiences were perplexed, apparently expecting a thriller and finding something closer to the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby road movies.

There is some topical (to now) humor in Morley's pidgin speaking to an Arab official who speaks perfectly fluent English (Bogart promises to introduce him to Rita Hayworth).

The DVD includes embarrassing introduction and conclusion by Tony Curtis with an absurd pompadour. It also includes a trailer for "The Big Sleep" with Bogart and Bacall. It does not include a trailer for "Beat the Devil" or any features with what surely must have been interesting stories of how the writers and cast came together and worked together.

There is also an odd hour-long documentary on Bogart. It is not very informative, but includes complete trailers of "The Big Sleep" (again!), "Twentieth Century," "Casablanca," "Key Largo," and (!) "Dark Victory." And perhaps more.

The DVD was super-cheap ($5 or $5.99) and has decent (if less than Criterion remastered) picture.



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12