In 48 Stunden

A most overlooked film which may have played better as a TV feature. Ford is an alcoholic doctor, but still the idol of many in this poverty stricken construction town in Mexico. When rabies hits the camp, Ford is called into action, when it strikes him personally, he finds a reason to live, and attempts a trek to a big city hospital before the disease spreads within his blood stream. Ford looks considerably older and sloppier in this film, his third with Stella Stevens. He's brooding and ill-kempt, not at all the light leading man of the previous decade. The last half hour carries some real tension, and an effective music score by Gustavo César Carrión adds immeasurably.

This movie is great. Yes, it is a low budget film but the concept is clear. Economy is this movie's middle name. It's shot in a somewhat, unforgiving documentary style. The story is plausible in the real world. You're curious to see how Glenn Ford's character ends his journey. So much could go wrong, how far can he go before he loses all his marbles in a foreign environment? A different culture has the potential to react in ways one doesn't expect. What would you do as a viewer if you were in his shoes with his medical condition? Sure, this small film could be more polished in sound design, cinematography, etc. See it for yourself not for how much the production cost but how well an original story was executed by a great actor. A great movie like "Rage" aka "El Mal" doesn't need excessive millions of dollars. You're taken along for an intense ride at a fraction of the cost to make a "blockbuster." Enjoy.

I really liked this movie. Glenn Ford has been completely believable in every role he's ever done. That is especially amazing when you look at the wide variety of roles that he has played. This role is definitely at one far end of the spectrum. He plays a drunken town doctor who has given up on his own life. He then meets a woman, the beautiful Stella Stevens, who makes him care again. She is attracted to Ford because he doesn't chase her because of her physical beauty like the other men do. When his life is in danger, he finds that he really wants to live but will he get help in time? This movie will put you on the edge of your seat but you'll also enjoy the sweet relationships of the characters. Glenn Ford and Stella Stevens are such a gentle pair here.

I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.

I enjoyed this movie a great deal; it has an interesting development of characters set within a construction camp for a major highway in rural New Mexico. Early in the film a local herder is brought in dying of rabies; the veterinarian becomes involved in a search for the source of the disease and whether it is part of an epidemic. A major side plot in the movie is the relationship between the veterinarian and a construction camp prostitute. There is a great deal of character development, and the lady's occupation is so subtly portrayed that it is an acceptable moview for older children. There is a great deal of empathy for the hard lives lived in a construction camp and its surrounding rural poverty.

Unlike most movies set in a rural atmosphere, the country people and blue collar workers are not cartoon buffoons or evil, violent troglodytes. This sensitive portrayal contrasts markedly with the brutal louts recently portrayed in a certain movie about commercial fishermen lost at sea, the Perfect Storm.

With the making of Rage, the Mexican film industry decided to do what the British have done for years. Get a Hollywood name for the lead and set the film in London with a British cast. That extra bounce of a name from the movie capital is good for box office.

In this case they got two. Glenn Ford as a dissolute doctor and Stella Stevens as a working girl are in Mexico at a construction site, each practicing their own trade when Ford is bitten by a rabid dog.

It's a simple story, they are out in the wilds and Ford has to reach civilization and fast before the case becomes incurable. With Stevens's help he sets out on the journey always as a medical professional looking out for the telltale signs of his condition going beyond the point of medical help.

I saw Rage in theater back when it was released and after some showings on television it seems to have disappeared. Peter Ford's biography of his dad tells little about it.

Ford and Stevens turn in some fine performances. Maybe this will be unearthed and put out on DVD soon.