Wolff rating: FAIR
Plot summary: Three convicts pose as roofers in 1910 French Guyana, and get involved in the trials and tribulations of a family there.
Biased, pithy comments: This is a film based on a French farce. The French farce, as translated into English for a production I saw, was wonderful. The movie staggers around a bit trying to change the motivations of the characters a little, but should have left well enough alone. Though Ustinov, Bogart, and Ray are great (and Rathbone as the villian isn't too bad), the film sucks the life out of a good play by slowing down good pacing and slicing away at good lines until they're bare. However, this is better than the 1989 remake with Sean Penn. (Yuck.)
Other Notes: The most fatal failure is the line that goes, ``You're intelligent. That's more than we'd hoped for,'' is, in the play, ``You're intelligent-looking. That's more than we'd hoped for.'' See the difference? One's sharp, the other dull. Sigh.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, Aldo Ray, Joan Bennett, Basil Rathbone, Leo G. Carroll, John Baer, Gloria Talbott.
Directed by: Michael Curtiz