Copyright 1955. A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture. New York opening at the Palace: 22 April 1955. U.K. release: 25 July 1955. Australian release: 17 June 1955. Sydney opening at the Metro Minerva, Kings Cross (no city showcase). 89 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: On his way to Innsbruck, where he is to enter a Theological Seminary, a repressed and somewhat unworldly young American candidate for the priesthood, meets a super-sexy cabaret singer during a stopover in Paris. He discovers that she is hiding from a gangster who is determined to kill her.
COMMENT: A history-making movie on a number of fronts:
1. It was the second CinemaScope movie from any Hollywood studio to lose almost its entire production cost. A minimal amount in this case compared to the huge loss sustained by "Jupiter's Darling", but that movie did manage to attract the connoisseur and corduroy sets. "Bedevilled", on the other hand, charmed no-one.
2. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer publicity claimed this as "the first CinemaScope film to be shot in Paris." While this claim is strictly correct, the movie was by no means the first anamorphic wide-screen movie to be made in the French capital. Not by a long shot!
3. Although Leisen is credited as sole director, he supervised only the location scenes. All the studio interiors were entrusted to Dick "Print It" Thorpe, an expert graduate of the don't-make-it-good- make-it-Monday school of film-making.
4. M-G-M's high hopes of grooming Steve Forrest for stardom were dashed by his poor showing in what was admittedly an indifferently- scripted role.
5. Anne Baxter never fully recovered from this turkey. She had just made three huge box-office hits in a row: "I Confess", "The Blue Gardenia", "Carnival Story". Despite top billing in "The Spoilers" (1955) and top female billing in "The Ten Commandments" (1956), she was overshadowed by her male co-stars.
6. Even though he was bounced from directing the studio scenes, Mitchell Leisen was the biggest loser. This tedious excuse for a thriller virtually put paid to his cinema career, although he did get to direct "The Girl Most Likely" (1957) and footage for a movie called "Las Vegas By Night" (1963), which was never released but incorporated into "Spree" (1967). (His friend, Ray Milland, came to his rescue by hiring him to direct episodes in his "Markham" TV series).
7. Despite this film's dime-novel plot, indifferent characters and tedious romantic episodes, Jo Eisinger continued to work steadily in both movies and television.
SYNOPSIS: On his way to Innsbruck, where he is to enter a Theological Seminary, a repressed and somewhat unworldly young American candidate for the priesthood, meets a super-sexy cabaret singer during a stopover in Paris. He discovers that she is hiding from a gangster who is determined to kill her.
COMMENT: A history-making movie on a number of fronts:
1. It was the second CinemaScope movie from any Hollywood studio to lose almost its entire production cost. A minimal amount in this case compared to the huge loss sustained by "Jupiter's Darling", but that movie did manage to attract the connoisseur and corduroy sets. "Bedevilled", on the other hand, charmed no-one.
2. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer publicity claimed this as "the first CinemaScope film to be shot in Paris." While this claim is strictly correct, the movie was by no means the first anamorphic wide-screen movie to be made in the French capital. Not by a long shot!
3. Although Leisen is credited as sole director, he supervised only the location scenes. All the studio interiors were entrusted to Dick "Print It" Thorpe, an expert graduate of the don't-make-it-good- make-it-Monday school of film-making.
4. M-G-M's high hopes of grooming Steve Forrest for stardom were dashed by his poor showing in what was admittedly an indifferently- scripted role.
5. Anne Baxter never fully recovered from this turkey. She had just made three huge box-office hits in a row: "I Confess", "The Blue Gardenia", "Carnival Story". Despite top billing in "The Spoilers" (1955) and top female billing in "The Ten Commandments" (1956), she was overshadowed by her male co-stars.
6. Even though he was bounced from directing the studio scenes, Mitchell Leisen was the biggest loser. This tedious excuse for a thriller virtually put paid to his cinema career, although he did get to direct "The Girl Most Likely" (1957) and footage for a movie called "Las Vegas By Night" (1963), which was never released but incorporated into "Spree" (1967). (His friend, Ray Milland, came to his rescue by hiring him to direct episodes in his "Markham" TV series).
7. Despite this film's dime-novel plot, indifferent characters and tedious romantic episodes, Jo Eisinger continued to work steadily in both movies and television.