It's too bad the budget was as low as it was, and that more care hadn't been invested in the casting, because this sticks closer to Hemingway's novel that the other, better-known versions like Howard Hawks'.
As it is, it was not shot in Florida or Cuba, and when Captain Audy Murphy pulls his fishing boat into a Key West harbor it looks like nothing so much as Newport Beach, California, which is what it is.
The print I saw was grainy and the filming lacking in any innovation. I know Don Siegel directed it and he could be a first-rate craftsman with no pretensions. Here, though, with the exception of Eddie Albert's evil character, nothing stands out.
Audy Murphy was not much of an actor. He turned in an exceptional performance in "The Red Badge of Courage" but in all of his other work he seemed slightly embarrassed to be in front of a camera. His relationship with Everett Sloan as "the rummy" is without depth or understanding. Aside from Eddie Albert and his smiling, back-patting, treacherous depravity, none of the other characters shine. Even Albert's character is not the maniacal killer that Siegel grew so fond of later in his career. Albert only shoots one or two people, and he uses a short-barreled revolver, not Dirty Harry's 20 mm. canon.
Patricia Owens is stunning in her modelesque way with her anthracite irises but she's there to provide Murphy's character with a home life, and too much screen time is given to her. The running time is short enough and the script could at least have had her remove some of her hampering outer garments to make up for the overabundance of her presence.
Siegel's action scenes are always good, more brutal than what we usually run into, and the climax is no exception here. By today's standards, of course, it's tepid stuff; but then by today's standards, everything more than twenty years old pales.
All in all, there's nothing at all memorable about this film. It could have been done twenty years earlier with B-list actors like Chester Morris or Stanley Clements or some other guy with a mustache and a contract.
As it is, it was not shot in Florida or Cuba, and when Captain Audy Murphy pulls his fishing boat into a Key West harbor it looks like nothing so much as Newport Beach, California, which is what it is.
The print I saw was grainy and the filming lacking in any innovation. I know Don Siegel directed it and he could be a first-rate craftsman with no pretensions. Here, though, with the exception of Eddie Albert's evil character, nothing stands out.
Audy Murphy was not much of an actor. He turned in an exceptional performance in "The Red Badge of Courage" but in all of his other work he seemed slightly embarrassed to be in front of a camera. His relationship with Everett Sloan as "the rummy" is without depth or understanding. Aside from Eddie Albert and his smiling, back-patting, treacherous depravity, none of the other characters shine. Even Albert's character is not the maniacal killer that Siegel grew so fond of later in his career. Albert only shoots one or two people, and he uses a short-barreled revolver, not Dirty Harry's 20 mm. canon.
Patricia Owens is stunning in her modelesque way with her anthracite irises but she's there to provide Murphy's character with a home life, and too much screen time is given to her. The running time is short enough and the script could at least have had her remove some of her hampering outer garments to make up for the overabundance of her presence.
Siegel's action scenes are always good, more brutal than what we usually run into, and the climax is no exception here. By today's standards, of course, it's tepid stuff; but then by today's standards, everything more than twenty years old pales.
All in all, there's nothing at all memorable about this film. It could have been done twenty years earlier with B-list actors like Chester Morris or Stanley Clements or some other guy with a mustache and a contract.