A millionaire with a broken leg is left to die in the desert by his wife and her lover. It all would've worked out so well except they didn't count on one thing--that millionaire is played by Robert Ryan in 1953's Inferno. Ryan busts his way through the desert with a makeshift splint in this terrific man-versus-nature film.
The screenplay by Francis Cockrell and director Roy Ward Baker are good at staying smart and keeping the story rooted in a real sense of the circumstances. When Donald (Ryan) spots a car and unsuccessfully tries to get its attention, I thought, "At least now he knows where the road is." Almost immediately, Ryan had a line almost exactly along those lines. It's that kind of thing that makes you feel you're right there with a character; you're figuring things out together.
Ryan is supposedly playing a spoiled brat but he comes off as way too tough for that. I guess that's a flaw but I'm not complaining.
His crooked wife is played by Rhonda Fleming while her lover is William Lundigan, giving a performance decent enough for an action scene. Fleming is pretty good as someone truly shallow with some hidden depths of evil. She rationalises that leaving Donald is not as bad as actually killing him but Lundigan quite rightly points out that a slow death in the desert is much, much worse than a quick shot to the head. Is she really just a coward or does she actually want him to suffer?
Meanwhile, Robert Ryan lurches across the desert sands, surviving on cactus water, deer, and a thirst for revenge.
Inferno is available on The Criterion Channel as part of their new Film Noir in Colour collection.
No comments:
Post a Comment