The owner (Audie Murphy) of a charter boat in the Florida keys is in debt and in danger of losing his boat. In an attempt to save his livelihood, he finds himself unwittingly involved with a dangerous and untrustworthy profiteer (Eddie Albert, making a superb cold blooded villain) selling guns to Cubans. This is the third film adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's novel
TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT following the 1944 Bogart and Bacall film and the second 1950 remake with John Garfield entitled
THE BREAKING POINT. Directed by Don Siegel, it's a vigorous, straight forward action piece (nicely shot in B&W by the Oscar winning Hal Mohr) without the
noir trappings of the previous film adaptations. Murphy may lack the charisma of a Bogart or Garfield but he makes for a likable, ordinary man caught up in circumstances beyond his control. The score is by Leith Stevens. With the always welcome Patricia Owens, Everett Sloane in the old Walter Brennan rummy part, Richard Jaeckel, Jack Elam, John Qualen, Peggy Maley, Herb Vigran and in Bacall's old femme fatale role, Miss Stockholm of 1952, a lovely Swede by the name of Gita Hall who retired to marry the actor Barry Sullivan.
Richard Jaekel with that sweet, sweet face is always playing such hard, high strung, rotten, menacing, types, he is great at it though.
ReplyDeleteEddie Albert is so wonderful with having that very scary layer, that is ready to burst out, just under all of that ease and charm he exudes.
Audie Murphy had very good chemestry with Gita Hall, if the movie went on, they would have been very believable friends. I kind of wanted to see them together some more.
No one has Garfield's charisma, it would be like trying to replace becall, but Audie has his own ways and this is a very strong cast.
So that is why there is not more Gita Hall around, too bad, she is talented and she comes across as very likeable.