Back from Eternity

Why John Farrow decided there had to be a remake of FIVE CAME BACK (which he directed earlier) remains a mystery to me. The script here is pretty much the same thing--standard plane crash with survivors lost in the jungle--and all on a studio set that looks like no more than a studio set. So much for reality.

But the performances he draws from his cast are almost enough to make the film as engrossing as it strives to be. The passengers are a mixed lot--among them a beauteous Anita Ekberg who poses prettily but makes no real effort to act. On the other hand, Robert Ryan and Keith Andes, as co-pilots, Beulah Bondi and Cameron Prud'Homme as an elderly couple, Phyllis Kirk and Gene Barry as a mismatched young couple, and Jon Provost (before his Lassie fame) do excellent jobs considering the fact that their roles are stereotypes. There are also less fortunate roles played by Adele Mara, Jesse White and Fred Clark. Mara's sudden exit from the plane at the height of the storm at least spares her the difficulty of facing the rest of the film as a stranded stewardess.

Top-lined in the cast is Rod Steiger as a criminal facing execution once he is returned to authorities. In an ironic twist of fate, he's the one who eventually chooses who shall leave the jungle crash scene and who shall not.

Interesting, but no real improvement over the original except for a few of the performances. All in all, good B-picture entertainment.

The most convincing moments are the plane's anxious moments during a wild thunderstorm. This is by and far the most visually compelling part of the film in which Farrow's direction (and some good special effects) shows his capabilities.

The long list of great movies attributed to Robert Ryan span from here to eternity and beyond. This film which is among his best is entitled " Back From Eternity. " It tells the story of a group of nine passengers traveling aboard a plane destined for remote locations. Unfortunately, the plane is forced to crash in the uncivilized, headhunter jungles of South America and the audience becomes more acquainted with the passenger list as they are exposed to indigenous danger. Robert Ryan is Bill Lonagan, the tired, world weary veteran pilot, who dreams of a place in the sun. Rod Steiger plays Vasquel, a condemned man facing the gallows. Keith Andes is Joe Brooks, the ever stalwart Co-Pilot. Gene Barry, Fred Clark, Jesse White and Jon Provost add definite color to the cast as does Anita Ekberg, Phyllis Kirk, Louise Melhorn, Beulah Bondi, Martha Spangler as the Stewardess. Each have reasons to live and a couple the courage to die. In between we learn just how deep convictions are and what we believe is not what we expect from appearances. Rod Steiger gives a sterling performance which should have earned him an Academy Award. The film has a certain panache worthy of a Classic and we who view it should be fortunate to have seen it. Recommended to any looking for a great movie.****

Back from Eternity (1956)

A surprisingly well made movie. The plot is a big contrivance in a way, a calculated drama of conflicting character types in a survival situation. But the acting is excellent, the script tight, and the direction and pacing really strong.

Robert Ryan leads the group, literally as the pilot of the doomed plane, and he's in great, restrained form. Eventually he is matched, as an actor, but the nuanced, quirky Rod Steiger, who plays a criminal of sorts. The two leading women are Anita Ekberg, who is here as an ornament as usual, but ends up being a decent character after all, and Phyllis Kirk, and dependable secondary actress.

It's probably coincidence, but here is a movie about an airplane by the studio (RKO) run by Howard Hughes, and aircraft industrialist. And it was one of RKO's last films, being ruined (along with all the studios) by the collapse of Old Hollywood. While not a big budget movie, the sets are contrived to work within their limitations, being stuck, as it were, in the jungle.

The weirdest thing here might be that the director (and producer), John Farrow, made the same movie in 1939. The first one is supposed to be better, but I haven't seen it, and this one holds its own. Partly it's just the searing acting of Steiger, and of Ryan. If the plot were not quite so improbable, and the inevitable weeding out of the survivors from the victims, the movie might be considered really excellent. It never wavers (except maybe the girl fight in the pool, which is stupidity), and it has lots of nuances and romantic touches.

I first saw this film as a young boy, when it was first shown here in Australia, and I haven't seen it since, even on television. But it remains vivid in my memory solely because of the performance of Rod Steiger. His "villain with a soul" is a role he played in many subsequent films, and it is what makes him so absorbing and intriguing to watch. Nobody does brooding menace like Rod Steiger. In this film, he outshines every other player, and in fact his character, and what he does at the end, is the core of the plot. Back from Eternity might be classified as a B-Grade film, but for the fact that Rod Steiger is in it.

Director John Farrow re-makes FIVE CAME BACK(1939), which he also directed. The crew and passengers of a crippled plane try to survive in a South American jungle. Pretty bland, but worth watching due to the acting of Rod Steiger. Destined to face a firing squad, Steiger's character is pivotal to the films anxious finale. Other cast members of note are: Robert Ryan, Gene Barry, Phyllis Kirk, Anita Ekberg and a young Jon Provost. If you are like me and enjoy watching the old black & white movies...this really isn't so bad.