JOE MACBETH

Paul Douglas as Joe Macbeth

JOE MACBETH (1955 ). Director: Ken Hughes.

Gangster Joe Macbeth (Paul Douglas) is made the number two man in an outfit run by DeLuca, "the Duke" (Gregoire Aslan), but his wife, Lily (Ruth Roman of The Baby) thinks he ought to be number one himself. Mrs. Macbeth importunes her husband to knock DeLuca off when he comes for a visit at their estate, and this is only the first of several murders as the Macbeths opt for power and try their damnedest to hold on to it. But when Macbeth has his suspicious friend, Banky (Sidney James of The Man in Black), taken care of, he'll have to face the wrath of Banky's furious son, Lennie (Bonar Colleano of Pool of London).

Bonar Colleano

Joe Macbeth is an obvious updating and vulgarization of Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth, but even on its own terms it just doesn't work. Douglas has been seen to better advantage in other pictures, Roman is not that convincing as a Lady Macbeth type, and even the highly talented British actor Bonar Colleano, although he has some fine moments, is somewhat lacklustre as Lennie (his character is actually a combination of Macduff -- although another guy is named "Duffy" -- and Banquo's son, Fleance). Joe Macbeth is also a disappointment as a gangster movie, lacking the tension, suspense, and excitement that the genre requires. As others have noted, you keep waiting for the Shakespearean "moments" instead of being gripped by the story. Another problem are those moments of black comedy that don't fit the tone of the picture (most of these have to do with an ever-hungry rival mobster named Dutch, played by Harry Green).

Verdict: Stick to the original. **.  

THE DEVIL AT 4 O'CLOCK

Spencer Tracy

THE DEVIL AT 4 O'CLOCK (1961). Director: Mervyn LeRoy.

"I bet you were a sweet little altar boy." -- Father Doonan [Spencer Tracy].

"Weren't we all?" -- Harry [Frank Sinatra].

Three convicts -- Harry (Frank Sinatra), Marcel (Gregoire Aslan) and Charlie (Bernie Hamilton) -- on their way to a Tahitian prison, have to stop over on the island of Talua so their plane can drop off Father Perreau (Kerwin Mathews). Perreau is there to replace cantankerous, alcoholic Father Doonan (Spencer Tracy), who has angered the islanders by building a hospital for children with Hansen's disease (leprosy) in the mountains. When the island is threatened by earthquakes and an erupting volcano, Doonan takes the convicts with him to rescue the children and the hospital staff. From there they make a perilous journey down the mountain, past thickening lava flows, that not all of them will survive. The characters and situations are so interesting that it doesn't matter that the harrowing action doesn't occur until late in the movie, and the fine performances from most of the cast help as well. Columbia has put together such a first-rate remastered high-def DVD of this film that sometimes the FX seams [process work and matte paintings] show through, but there are still some stunning vistas. Unlike the more realistic hardened convicts you generally find in today's movies, Sinatra and company are men of some convenient strength and sensitivity. The piousness sometimes threatens to become cloying but never overwhelms the movie, and dissenting viewpoints are also presented. Tracy is superb, with fine support from Hamilton [who deserved a much bigger career], Aslan, Alexander Scourby as the governor, and Cathy Lewis as hospital worker Marguerite. Jean-Pierre Aumont and Tom Middleton are fine as the pilots, as is Barbara Luna as a blind girl at the hospital. Even in this, Sinatra, who isn't bad, gets the girl -- or does he? The film isn't entirely predictable in who will make it off the island or not.

Verdict: This movie is not a disaster. ***.