Green Hell (film)
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Green Hell | |
---|---|
Ted Kent | |
Music by | Frank Skinner |
Production company | Famous Films |
Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 87 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $692,000[1] |
Green Hell is a 1940 American jungle adventure film directed by James Whale, starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Joan Bennett.[2]
Green Hell was given a lavish production by
Whale made only one more completed film after this, the 1941
Plot
A group of adventurers journey deep into the
Cast
- Douglas Fairbanks Jras Keith Brandon
- Joan Bennett as Stephanie Richardson
- John Howard as Hal Scott
- George Sanders as Forrester
- Alan Haleas Doctor Loren
- George Bancroft 'Tex' Morgan
- Vincent Price as David Richardson
- Gene Garrick as Graham
- Francis McDonald as Gracco
- Ray Mala as Mala (as Ray Mala)
- Peter Bronte as Santos
- Lupita Tovar as Native Girl
Production
The film was based on an original story and script by Frances Marion. Producer Harry Edington had a deal at Universal and announced it for production in April 1939.[4] James Whale agreed to direct and Douglas Fairbanks and Joan Bennett were cast in the leads. At one stage the film was going to be called South of the Amazon.[5]
Price called Whale "a wonderful man" but "in spite of the film's great seriousness of intent it was probably one of the funniest films ever shot anywhere in the world. About five of the worst pictures ever made were all in that one picture. We all adored making it because we realized there wasn't a single word in it that was real. The sets were terribly opulent, very expensive, but it had the most preposterous story."[6]
Critical reception
Leonard Maltin called it "hokey but entertaining."[9]
Douglas Fairbanks Jr said the film was "hell. Every jungle cliche was trotted out. Joanie Bennett says it remains her worst movie. I remember George Sanders saying he held his nose every time he had to say a line... [director James Whale had] just lost it. He didn't care about it at all."[10]
Preservation
A print and its trailer are preserved in the
References
- ISBN 9780813158891.
- ^ "Green Hell". BFI. Archived from the original on 2012-07-13.
- ^ "Green Hell". TV Guide.
- ^ Young College Girl Chosen for Fern Role: Fairbanks 'Cable' Star Paramount Convention Wheeler 'Nut' Candidate Marxes in Tuneful Mood Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 17 Apr 1939: 8.
- ^ Louella O. Parsons: Close-Ups and Long-Shots Of the Motion Picture Scene The Washington Post 14 July 1939: 28.
- ^ Dixon, Stephen; Price, Vincent: "Good Phibes: STEPHEN DIXON meets VINCENT PRICE now starring in a television series of his early films", The Guardian, 18 Aug 1973: 8.
- ^ "Movie Review - Green Hell - THE SCREEN; Monotony in the Jungle - NYTimes.com". The New York Times. 6 April 2023.
- ^ Allen Eyles. "Green Hell". RadioTimes.
- ^ "Green Hell (1940) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies.
- ISBN 9780813167121.
- ^ Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress, p.72 c.1978 by American Film Institute[Retrieved April 24, 2016]
External links
- Green Hell at IMDb
- Green Hell at AllMovie
- Green Hell at the TCM Movie Database
- Green Hell[NY Times