(Note, 1.18.17: Twilight Time will be releasing a domestic disc of
this title on May 16, licensed for U.S. distribution.)
A fine 20th Fox entry for the 3-D craze of 1953, the adventure thriller Inferno is often labeled a film noir in the desert. Despite the presence of a scheming, murderous wife, the noir quotient here is minimal — it’s just a straight survival tale with a homicidal twist. An odd UK-only release licensed by a small independent company, the Blu-ray 3-D is well encoded — the ‘organic’ two strip 3-D is excellent at all times. American collectors have been waiting for a domestic release for three years, without results. The UK copy I screened plays perfectly on Region A equipment.
Writer Francis M. Cockrell’s name appears on a number of well-remembered episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents was well as the interesting pre-Code drama The Age of Consent (1932) and Dark Waters (1944); he also provided the story for the excellent Civil War ‘terrorism’ story The Raid (1954). Cockrell’s scenario for Inferno is a little shaky but serviceable, and for its year presents a fairly uncompromising ordeal for its leading man Robert Ryan. Rhonda Fleming is the leading lady, and she comes across well in Technicolor and 3-D.
Fed up with her businessman husband Donald Whitley Carson III (Robert Ryan) after several years of marriage, greedy wife Geraldine Carson (Rhonda Fleming) connives with her lover and Donald’s employee Joseph Duncan (William Lundigan) to pull off a slick murder. While on a trip investigating his manganese claims in the desert, Carson manages to break his leg near the ankle. Geraldine and Joseph tell Donald that they’re going on horseback for help, but instead ditch his car and inform the sheriff (Robert Burton) that he disappeared on his own, in a different part of the desert. The two manage to convince Carson’s business manager Dave Emory (Larry Keating) and police Lt. (Carl Betz) that they’re completely confused as to what happened to Donald. Rather than succumb to exposure and starvation, Donald finds the courage to straighten his own leg and apply a splint; he then proceeds to scoot and lower himself down a rocky cliff face. He also finds ways of locating both food and water in the unforgiving desert. The trouble is, even after Donald has made a crutch for himself, he’s a long way from nowhere. The search ended days ago with the authorities convinced he’s somewhere else. And Geraldine and Joseph will soon be on the way back, to bury Donald’s remains and cover all traces.
Roy Baker didn’t add the ‘Ward’ to his credits until ten years later. Working at Fox, his most prominent assignment was the Marilyn Monroe drama Don’t Bother to Knock, but it didn’t help his career very much. Inferno is another fine directing job that gives the under-utilized Robert Ryan a meaty role. Donald Carson is a temperamental executive, a former rich kid who, we learn from his business manager, offends people, drinks to excess and has been known to disappear for days at a time without telling anybody. He may have fallen off his horse because he was drunk. Geraldine and Joseph’s claim that Donald just took off is credible, especially after they’ve already prepared an elaborate false trail in the desert, using Donald’s shoes.
Baker’s camera stays close on Donald as the disabled man deals with his predicament in a fairly realistic manner. The descent from the mountaintop is done well, although we wonder why Donald doesn’t just take whatever route the horses used to ascend. The business of securing liquid from cactus is convincing, as is digging in a dry arroyo to see if any water is trapped below. The most successful aspect of the story is seeing the bitter and defeatist Donald apply himself to the problem of survival. He initially motivates himself with thoughts of revenge, but the ordeal, makes him a new man, satisfied with himself and no longer angry at the world. The Carson character isn’t as striking as Ryan’s soul-sick Jim Wilson in On Dangerous Ground or his bitter Deke Thornton in The Wild Bunch, but he’s an improvement on the one-dimensional soldiers and villains Ryan would often find himself playing.
Perhaps what’s missing is a glimpse of Robert Ryan’s millionaire before he breaks his leg, in full S.O.B. mode. Carson’s voiceover during the desert trek gives us essential information a little too easily, but it works well enough and is certainly better than having Donald talk out loud to himself constantly, or using a narration by some third party. We know that Donald’s wife hates him and wants him out of the way, and it’s interesting to hear a close associate say such mundane negative things about him. Yet we never experience Donald drunk and obnoxious or being abusive. We don’t get to see these same people discover the supposedly ‘new’ Donald reborn out of the desert. What should be a main story conflict between husband and wife, barely happens, as they share only one brief moment together on screen.
The drama works, but our identification with Donald could be a lot stronger if we saw more of his unpleasant ‘before.’ When Donald makes contact with desert rat Henry Hull (pleasingly subdued) we forget that he was ever supposed to be ‘difficult to get along with.’
The supporting roles are just stock, with Rhonda Fleming a selfish cheat, and William Lundigan suitably cold-blooded. Fleming’s acting isn’t good enough to express the sense of denial that such a shallow person might use to avoid distress over such a terrible crime. Geraldine just seems a little too relaxed. Also, were I a detective, I’d be more curious about the cozy relationship between the sexy wife and the handsome geology assistant. The two of them just happen to lose track of a guy, whose permanent disappearance will make both of them filthy rich: “And how long have you and Joe been so close, Mrs. Carson?” In terms of plot loopholes, I hope for Geraldine’s sake that she has check-writing privileges for all of hubby’s accounts. State law might want her to wait for years before he’s declared legally dead.
Perhaps the best thing about Inferno is that it makes us feel like we’re in a real desert – it’s rocky, dry and distances are difficult to gauge. It can’t be the hottest part of the summer, or Donald wouldn’t last two days in his condition — being unprotected in the sun would be intolerable. Robert Ryan makes the guy look suitably sun-baked and miserable.
Fox pushed the original 3-D release with all its might: “The wonder of 3-D Stereophonic Sound! The marvel of 3-D Color by Technicolor enhanced a Thousandfold!” This foreign-sold disc Inferno is a fine addition to one’s 3-D corral.
