Green Hell (film)
| Green Hell | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | James Whale |
| Produced by | Harry E. Edington |
| Written by | Frances Marion |
| Starring |
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Vincent Price Joan Bennett Alan Hale, Sr. George Sanders John Howard |
| Cinematography | Karl W. Freund |
| Edited by | Ted Kent |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release dates | 1940 |
Running time | 87 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Green Hell is a 1940 jungle adventure film directed by James Whale with photography by Karl Freund. The cast includes Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Joan Bennett, John Howard, George Sanders, Alan Hale, Sr., Vincent Price and Ray Mala.[1] The film was released by Universal Studios.
Green Hell was given a lavish production by Universal, which built a massive indoor jungle set on a sound stage. An Inca Temple 125 feet high, 225 feet wide, and 45,000 square feet in area were constructed. Having spent big bucks on a film which turned out to be a critical and financial disaster, Universal used the set again, recycling it into an Egyptian temple for The Mummy's Hand (1940).[2]
Whale made only one more completed film after this, a 1941 World War II romantic melodrama They Dare Not Love, starring George Brent, improbably cast as an exiled Austrian prince fighting the Nazis.
Plot
A group of adventurers journey deep into the South American jungle in search of ancient Incan treasure. A beautiful woman, brought to their camp by hired bearers, has come to join her husband, a newer member of the group, who was recently killed by hostile natives. As the months pass, jealousies and tempers flare as fights break out over the woman. The Incan treasure is eventually found but the treaure-seekers, now united by a common enemy, are about to be attacked by hordes of fierce natives armed with bows and poisoned arrows.
Cast
- Keith Brandon - Douglas Fairbanks Jr
- Stephanie Richardson - Joan Bennett
- Hal Scott - John Howard
- Forrester - George Sanders
- David Richardson - Vincent Price
- Doctor Loren - Alan Hale
- 'Tex' Morgan - George Bancroft
- Graham - Eugene Gericke (as Gene Garrick)
- Gracco - Francis McDonald
- Mala - Ray Mala
- Santos - Peter Bronte
- Native Girl - Lupita Tovar
Critical reception
The New York Times wrote, "every one keeps a stiff upper lip except Miss Bennett, who purses hers, and the youngest member of the expedition, who becomes hysterical and screams, "Oh, the monotony of it!" Monotony, egad! What a word for the best worst picture of the year!";[3] while The Radio Times wrote, "famously ludicrous jungle melodrama...Although capably staged in studio sets by James Whale and well enough cast...it is made unendurable by the dialogue and situations devised by former Oscar winner Frances Marion. As Vincent Price once said, "About five of the worst pictures ever made are all in this one picture";[4] Leonard Maltin called it "hokey but entertaining." [5]
External links
- Green Hell at the Internet Movie Database
- Green Hell at AllMovie
- Green Hell at the TCM Movie Database
- Green Hell at Allmovie
References
- ↑ "Green Hell". BFI.
- ↑ "Green Hell". TV Guide.
- ↑ "Movie Review - Green Hell - THE SCREEN; Monotony in the Jungle - NYTimes.com".
- ↑ Allen Eyles. "Green Hell". RadioTimes.
- ↑ "Green Hell (1940) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies.
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