Dante’s Inferno

7/1935

Dispatch.ist status:

We’ve flipped through this one. There’s a great dance scene. Will watch again in more detail. 

Synopsis

A mechanic takes over management of an Inferno-themed amusement park attraction. It’s wildly sucessful, but dangerous, with a fatal collapse as the denoument. The protagonist’s deception is the sin that might drag him to hell, but the movie ends ambiguously.

Notes

Available in its entirety on Youtube. It’s a bit of a slow period piece, consider jumping ahead to Satan’s big reveal.  It’s for the ladies, really. High point: Very famous actor Spencer Tracy as the lead, five years into his acting career. The film is well-known for its images of hell (above), which are occasionally blamed on the 1911 Italian film, but are original to this movie.

Review

This one’s due for a re-watch before we do a meaningful review. It’s not great, a 30-minute story stretched thin with a redemption arc that doesn’t quite arc. Honestly, it feels like an exploitation film, but without enough lurid sensation.

Faithfulness

“Makes reference to the original.” This is fundamentally a movie in the style of the exploitation film, and occasionally nods to Dante or indeed to the concept of Hell at all, but it feels like this is more of a cross-marketing campaign than a major part of the film.

Watchability

Not great except as a period film. If you’re a fan of the B&W era then you may enjoy it, but you’re probably better off watching the fun sequences around 26:33 to 35:00 and the “come to Jesus” at 49:48, and calling it good. – Jacob