BFI Giving John Huston’s Beat The Devil A Blu-Ray Release
Humphrey Bogart is joined by Jennifer Jones, Gina Lollobrigida and Peter Lorre among the star-studded cast in this classic caper scripted by Truman Capote. A masterful shaggy dog story that’s part comedy and part thriller, nothing is quite what it seems in director John Huston’s wry send-up of film noir, including his own The Maltese Falcon.
On 16 March 2020 the BFI will bring Beat the Devil to Blu-ray/DVD in a Dual Format Edition with simultaneous release on BFI Player, iTunes and Amazon. Special features include two audio commentaries.
As one of a disparate group of fortune-seekers bound for Africa, hard-up Billy Dannreuther (Humphrey Bogart) faces the swindling machinations of his fellow travellers as they await passage from a picturesque port on Italy’s Amalfi coast. But with scheming aplenty, will this motley crew miss the boat completely?
Special features
· Audio commentary featuring film historians Lem Dobbs, Julie Kirgo, and Nick Redman (2018)
· Audio commentary featuring DoP Oswald Morris, script supervisor Angela Allen and director’s assistant Jeanie Sims (2007)
· Alexander Cockburn on Beat the Devil (2012, 22 mins): the writer talks about his father, Claud Cockburn, from whose novel the film was adapted from
· By the Fireside (1945, 2 mins): an advertisement for Maypole Tea emphasising the quintessential Englishness of the afternoon tea ritual
· Atomic Achievement (1956, 19 mins): a public information film celebrating the advances of nuclear power in the UK
· Stills gallery
***FIRST PRESSING ONLY*** Fully illustrated booklet with essays by Peter Tonguette and Alexander Cockburn; notes on the special features and full film credits
Blu-ray/DVD release on 16 March 2020 with simultaneous release on BFI Player, iTunes and Amazon
Discover more from
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
About the Author
