Safe in Hell (1931)

The Worst Film Ever

Good movie but grossly overrated

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Dorothy Mackaill and Donald Cook are Gilda and Carl. Starts out as a sordid affair... Gilda is hiding after accidentally killing an attacker. they run off and make it respectable. The african americans are portrayed as quite well educated and well spoken, which was rare for a film of this time! some fun scenes where the "locals" of the hotel sit around and chew the fat, sing, and spout out aphorisms, all of which have nothing to do with the story, except to show us how awful the place is. The story is pretty tight... Gilda has her ups and downs, and it all comes down to a trial near the end. Good stuff. A good example of the "south sea exotic films", which were all clearly filmed on the back lot, but have the appearance and feeling of life far away on an island. My only complaint is her motivation for the very ending, but I won't give away spoilers. Watch it for yourself. maybe i missed something. John Fay is in here, he died pretty young at 53, but just about everyone did back then. Mackaill had started films in the early 1920s, made a bunch of talkies, then stopped suddenly around 1937. Mackaill looks and sounds just like Joan Blondell, but of course, Mackaill came first! Director Wellman had started with silent films, and very successfully moved on to talkies. Oscar for 1937 version of Star is Born.

That our heroine has to continue to fend off sleazebags who bring to mind the Metoo movement and Harvey Weinstein (that's who I immediately thought of while fighting nausea watching the gross warden/jailer of the island),not to mention some of the less contemptible denizens of the story.My favorite acting was by Jones,the lawyer played admirably by Charles Middleton.Dorothy Mackaill was excellent as the wronged woman,forced to flee NOLA due to believing she's killed the man who forced her into prostitution,Piet played by Ralf Harolde,the squirmy doctor from Night Nurse in 1930.Surprised at "Gramps" character turning out to be a killer,he seemed so mild-mannered in comparison to Vic Varconi's General Gomez,John Wray's Egan,and the nastiest character,the jailer-if I'd face hanging vs jail to provide him with benefits,I'd choose suicide,never give him the satisfaction of pawing me as he lowers the noose.

There is a Deep, Personal, Melodramatic Story in this Pre-Code Film and because it is Pre-Code the Personal Story can be that of a Prostitute Without Apology and there is No Need for All that Innuendo and Symbolism that the "Do Gooders" would Force on the Industry and the American Movie Going Public for Decades. This is the Raw Deal.Here we have a Fine Central Performance from Dorothy Mackaill who is Anything but Snow White Living Among the Dwarfs as Some Have Said. Although Her Chosen Profession is Not that of Her Choosing She Seemed to Not Mind it that Much as can be Witnessed when She Explodes into a Ravenous Rage of "Come On" after being Cooped Up in Her Room.The Men are All Sleazebags of Varying Degrees but None are Acceptable in Any Realm of Civilized Society. Charles Middleton says..."I am a lawyer, as twisted as they come". The Other Sweaty, Ugly, and Lecherous Dregs Pant and Drool at the Sight of "The only white woman on the Island.", Relentlessly.This All becomes a Bit Much with the Constant Tongue Wagging and Cigarette Lighting, but the Movie is Undoubtedly an Unattractive, Lurid Display of the Trashy Pulp Stories, so Popular Among the Masses.It Should be Pointed Out that the Two African Americans here are Without Stereotype and are In Fact, the Most Likable Characters in the Movie and there is a Jazzy Song Sung by Nina Mae McKinney "Sleepy Time Down South" as She Serves Champagne and Bends Over with Each Glass to Reveal Her Charms (other than singing).Pre-Coders are Drawn to This One Like Moths to a Flame and Analyzed it to Death, and it does have a lot of Sweaty Sleaze and Symbolic Sexuality as well as Overt Sexuality and there is an Attraction here that is Undeniable. So if Tropical Teasing and Unattractive Men Lusting After a Sexpot on an "Island of Lost Souls" is Your Thing, this One's for You.

"Safe In Hell" is a very strange picture, a whimsical story fashioned out of whole cloth by a long-forgotten playwright with a fertile imagination. A round-heeled tart kills a john and flees with her boyfriend to a Caribbean island with no extradition law. There she rents a room at a hotel populated by several gargoyle-type fugitives who are horny as toads. Everyone is in heat in the heat, especially the local constable. The story gets stranger and stranger leading up to a completely unexpected Hollywood ending.The cast is good. Dorothy Mackaill is the 'tomato' in question and she is excellent. Donald Cook is OK as her boyfriend and Ralf Harolde is appropriately sleazy as an old flame. The plot is actually kind of flimsy but Director Wellman brings it off well, aided by some fine acting performances. Black actress Nina Mae McKinney has a plum role for a black actress in an era when there were precious few to be had.This is a Pre-Code curiosity which is somewhat tame by today's standards but still worth a watch, since it is a one-of-a-kind sort of tabloid story, surreal and sensational. It was on TCM the other morning and is not available, so wait for it to come on again.