El paraíso del mal (1931) Online
At a hotel in the middle of the Sahara Desert, an old man and his beautiful daughter try to keep the location of a hidden treasure from a collection of thieves and criminals staying at the hotel who are determined to get it. A suave gentleman thief arrives at the hotel one day with his own plan to get the loot, but complications ensue when he begins to fall for the daughter.
Complete credited cast: | |||
Ronald Colman | - | Barrington Hunt | |
Fay Wray | - | Camille de Jonghe | |
Estelle Taylor | - | Eliza Mowbray | |
Warren Hymer | - | Smiley Corbin | |
Tully Marshall | - | Baron de Jonghe | |
Lawrence Grant | - | Dr. Shayne | |
Ullrich Haupt | - | Col. von Axt | |
Kit Guard | - | Kid Twist | |
Henry Armetta | - | Nick the Goose | |
Lucille La Verne | - | Lucie Villars | |
Mischa Auer | - | Prince Nicolai Poliakoff | |
Henry Kolker | - | Col. Lautrac | |
Charles Hill Mailes | - | Alfred de Jonghe | |
Wilhelm von Brincken | - | Undetermined Supporting Role (scenes deleted) |
Preview screenings of the film met with very disappointing audience reviews. As a result, director George Fitzmaurice put the picture back in production and re-shot a significant amount of the scenes. It has been suggested that many of the principle crew members, including the cinematographer and screenwriters, passed their duties on to different professionals at this point.
Final film of Ullrich Haupt. The film was released just over two months after Haupt's untimely death. After finishing his work on the film, the actor retired to Figueroa Mountain, California for a vacation and hunting trip. He was killed when a shotgun his chauffeur was unloading accidentally discharged. The chauffeur and Haupt's two sons desperately sought medical aid for the actor, but he had expired by the time the three men returned to his side with a doctor.
According to numerous sources, both contemporary and modern, credited screenwriters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur provided some elements of the script, but passed the job on to one or more anonymous subordinates once they were tasked with writing the screenplay for Scarface (1932). It has been speculated that John Lee Mahin the author, or one of the authors, who picked up the slack for Hecht and MacArthur, but his contributions to this film cannot be confirmed with certainty.
Ronald Colman's name appears before the title of the film, however, his is the last name given when the "Players" are introduced.
This marked the eighth film collaboration of Ronald Colman and director George Fitzmaurice.
Contemporary industry magazines such as Hollywood Reporter and Motion Picture Herald noted the uneven photography in this film. These sources suggest that Gregg Toland may have replaced credited DP George Barnes after portions of the film had to be re-shot.
The film's promotional tagline was "Kiss or Kill!" The line appeared on a variety of posters.
The film was generally well received, both critically and commercially.
This was the first and only time in which Ronald Colman and Fay Wray appeared together in the same film. Wray recounted that her experience alongside Colman was a pleasant one and that the two interacted quite well together.
In an interview given in 1993, Fay Wray expressed disappointment over this film. She recalled that she felt the script was substandard and a bit too unrealistic. She was surprised to learn from the interviewer that screenwriters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur had likely pawned the script off on one or more subordinates before the script was finished.
The wanted poster for Hunt indicates a 100,000 franc reward. That would equate to $3,920 at the time or over $62,000 in 2016.
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