Back From Eternity (1956)

A disparate group of passengers are headed for a small South American village by airplane: a bar girl (Anita Ekberg), an engaged couple (Phyllis Kirk, Gene Barry), an elderly couple (Beulah Bondi, Cameron Prud'Homme) on vacation, a convicted criminal (Rod Steiger) and his jailer (Fred Clark), a mobster (Jesse White) and a little boy (Jon Provost). The crew: a pilot (Robert Ryan), co-pilot (Keith Andes) and flight attendant (Adele Mara). A freak storm causes the plane to veer off course and crash in an uncharted South American jungle populated by hostile headhunters. In a rare case of a director remaking his own film, John Farrow directs this remake of his 1939 film FIVE CAME BACK. As remakes go, it's probably a bit better than the original. Certainly the intensity level is upped considerably and the acting is generally better. Steiger, in particular, is admirably restrained in a role that could easily have brought out the ham in him. One of the better entries in the "airline disaster" movie genre. The nicely rendered B&W cinematography is courtesy of William C. Mellor (A PLACE IN THE SUN) and there's a nice score by Franz Waxman. With Barbara Eden, in her film debut, as a college student.