12 years after his role as Sam Spade inThe Maltese Falcon, Humphrey Bogart starred inBeat the Devil,an underrated parody of the 1941 classic. Directed by John Huston,The Maltese Falconhas a well-earned reputation as one ofHumphrey Bogart’s best movies. It’s arguably his second most well-known film, behindCasablanca. It was also one of the movies that helped make the actor a household name in Hollywood, as many of Bogart’s movies in the 1930s actually contributed little to his recognition in the industry.
A great example of the film noir genre,The Maltese Falconfamously sawBogart’s interpretation of the Sam Spade characterinvestigate the death of his partner in the private detective business and get embroiled in the search for a highly coveted bird statue. The murder mystery culminated in an ending quite unlike those of most Hollywood films at the time, as it implicated Mary Astor’s Brigid O’Shaughnessy, Spade’s love interest, in the killing. However, it didn’t close the book on Sam Spade’s story, as a sequel could have been made. But Bogart never did return to the role. However, he did headline a film with some very intentional similarities toThe Maltese Falcon.
What Beat The Devil Is About
Its Story Is Very Different From The Maltese Falcon
The Maltese Falcon’sconnections toBeat the Devilbegin with the cast and crew.Both are directed by John Huston and feature Humphrey Bogart as the male lead. Peter Lorre, a frequent presence inHumphrey Bogart’s film noir moviesand the actor who played Joel Cairo inThe Maltese Falcon, appears inBeat the Devilas well, once again in a supporting role. In the movie, Bogart portrays Billy Dannreuther, a once-successful businessman struggling to earn a living. To that end, he becomes involved with a small crew of unscrupulous characters, all of which appearing to be untrustworthy, but are each crucial to their get-rich scheme.
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The narrative it follows admittedly differs considerably fromThe Maltese Falcon. Though hardly a squeaky-clean protagonist, Sam Spade is a hero nonetheless, whereashis character inBeat the Devilis an active participant in a criminal plotset aboard a ship. But even though that’s the case,Beat the Devilstill manages to make Bogart the protagonist, the character trying to unravel the story’s mysteries. Because just likeThe Maltese Falcon, a murder sparks his suspicions of several key characters. Nearly every member ofBeat the Devil’scast has a backstory, motivations, and perhaps a reason to backstab the others.
How Beat The Devil Parodies The Maltese Falcon
Beat The Devil Humorously Spoofs Several Elements Of The Maltese Falcon
Despite the differences in the story,Beat the Devilcontains some interesting parallels toThe Maltese Falconthat go beyond the actors and director.Beat the Devilutilizes several of the character archetypes and story tropes found inThe Maltese Falcon,but employs a much more over-the-top approach. This allows it to come across as a comedic take on bothThe Maltese Falconand film noir in general. In contrast to The Maltese Falcon and countless other film noir like it,Beat the Devildoesn’t attempt to take itself seriouslyas it gradually unravels its mysteries and develops its characters.
One example of this is the partnership between Peter Lorre’s Julius O’Hara and Robert Morley’s Peterson. The shady duo is reminiscent of a previous pairing in several other film noir movies, namelyPeter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet. The two served as antagonists to Sam Spade inThe Maltese Falcon, withBeat the Devilappearing to take inspiration from their roles, albeit with Morley replacing Greenstreet. In both movies, Lorre is the expendable pawn of his more calculating and sinister associate.
Sydney Greenstreet stepped away from acting in 1949, and therefore would have been unavailable for an appearance inBeat the Devil.
What’s more,Bogart himself appears to be leaning onThe Maltese FalconinBeat the Devil.With Billy, Bogart captures some of the same quirks that made Sam Spade and several of his other characters staples of the film noir genre, but willfully depicts them in a more satirical manner.
There’s also the dynamic between Bogart and one of the two female leads, Jennifer Jones' Mrs. Gwendolen Chelm. In a way that feels like a tribute to Mary Astor’s character inThe Maltese Falcon, Gwendolen is depicted initially as a seemingly innocent (but married) woman falling in love with Bogart’s protagonist, but there’s an inescapable notion that her interest in him hides something nefarious.
Beat The Devil Is Worth Watching, But It’s Not As Good As The Maltese Falcon
There’s A Lot To Like About Beat The Devil
As evidenced by its lack of Academy Award consideration and 68%Rotten Tomatoesscore,Beat the Devilis hardly the cinematic icon thatThe Maltese Falconis. That’s not necessarily a knock on the film, though, considering thatThe Maltese Falconis recognized as one of the best films of its kind, not to mention how significant it is toHumphrey Bogart’s legacy in Hollywood. Understandably,Beat the Devilisn’t able to live up to that standard, and doesn’t even rank among Bogart’s best work. But, yet, it still manages to entertain.
After all, it’s important to note thatBeat the Devilonly exists as a film noir spoof; it never attempts to recreate the magic ofThe Maltese Falcon, nor does it attempt to function as a solid entry in the genre. That said, knowledge of film noir - specifically ones starring Humphrey Bogart, includingThe Maltese Falcon- go a long way toward makingBeat the Devilan even more worthwhile viewing experience. It’s film noir caricatures land better when the viewer already has an understanding of its roots and what came before it. Plus, there’s the matter of Humphrey Bogart’s penchant for one-liners; his dry humor and no-nonsense attitude lend itself well toBeat the Devil’sscript.
That said, humor isn’t the only thing that makesBeat the Devila quality Humphrey Bogart movie. Its characters are intriguing enough to carry a movie, Bogart shines as usual, and it offers a multitude of memorable quotes, particularly from its headlining attraction. Not only that, but its story and tone contrast wildly to a lot of the films from this period, not to mention all other Humphrey Bogart movies. Its twists can be predictable since they copy beats fromthe best of the film noir genre, but thanks to its comedic flair and witty dialogue, there’s much to appreciate aboutBeat the Devil.
Beat the Devil
Cast
Beat the Devil, directed by John Huston, follows a group of con artists, including Humphrey Bogart and Gina Lollobrigida, as they embark on a journey to stake their claim on a dubious uranium mine in Africa. This comedic adventure weaves together deception and intrigue against an exotic backdrop.
