Fire Down Below (1957)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Robert Parrish

Writers:

Irwin Shaw (screenplay)
Max Catto (novel)

Release Date:

May 1957 (UK)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

Torrid, tempestuous Irena...the spark that turned the tropics into a blazing cauldron of passions!

Plot:

Tony and Felix own a tramp boat, and sail around the Caribbean doing odd jobs and drinking a lot. They...

Plot Keywords:

Switchblade | Based On Novel

Cast

Rita Hayworth	...	Irena
Robert Mitchum	...	Felix Bowers
Jack Lemmon	...	Tony
Herbert Lom	...	Harbor Master
Bonar Colleano	...	Lt. Sellars
Bernard Lee	...	Dr. Sam Blake
Peter Illing	...	Captain of the 'Ulysses'
Edric Connor	...	Jimmy Jean
Anthony Newley	...	Miguel
Eric Pohlmann	...	Hotel Owner
Lionel Murton	...	American
Vivian Matalon	...	Sailor
Gordon Tanner	...	Sailor
Maurice Kaufmann	...	Sailor
Joan Miller	...	Mrs. Canaday

Runtime:

USA:116 min | UK:116 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (nf) | USA:Approved (certificate #17966) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Warwick Film Productions

Trivia:

Average Shot Length (ASL) = 7.6 seconds

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In an early scene, Felix and Tony are supposed to be transporting Irena on their boat when they get into a fist fight. Jimmy Jean continues to steer before eventually breaking up the fight. The camera pulls back and shows that the boat isn't moving.

Quotes:

Harbor Master: [watching sailors fight a fire] The American navy is at work.
Dr. Sam Blake: What do they say?
Harbor Master: They don't say anything. They just whistle through their teeth and call for Coca-Colas.

Soundtrack:

Fire Down Below

Who Could Ask For Anything More?

I saw this movie when it was out, in 1957, and I always remember with thrills its "explosive" climax. It was shown again on cable TV last month, and I watched it again with great pleasure, in spite of the bad notes given by the cable magazine, condemning the ominous editing by the Hollywood moguls. Now you have three top US stars of the time (Mitchum, Lemmon and Hayworth*), three solid British second roles (Bernard Lee, Herbert Lom and Bonar Colleano), a wonderful location (Tobago), good dance and good music. Plus the extraordinary climax, not chopped by the moguls. Who could ask for anything more, nowadays? Harry Carasso

*The birth year (1918) given above to Rita Hayworth may not be correct. At the first Cannes Film Festival,1946, a journalist asked for her age and she replied "31". The man was impolite enough to add, off-the-record: "in the movie business"? Let's face it: in 1946, according to my sources,Rita had the same age as her current husband Orson Welles (born 1915). And in 1957, she gave one of her best performances, in PAL JOEY, with Frank Sinatra. The same year, in FIRE DOWN BELOW, at 42, she delivers two extraordinary exotic and erotic dances, with a devilish local group.