Black Jack

Both the plot and the visual appearance of this very unknown film reminds the spectator in some whiles of masterpieces of that time like 'The Third Man', 'Casablanca', 'The Lady of Shangai', 'Beat the Devil', or even 'Mr Arkadin' (an strange and marvelous co production filmed in Spain as well) but it's quality is a sidereal distance far away from them.

Plot is a little complicated, characters are not completely credible and Sanders is a little miscast in this story settled in Mallorca about an smuggler and his ethical doubts. As in many co productions you feel that the result is composed of glued parts and so the whole thing doesn't work as properly as it should.

Anyway, has moments that deserve the watching: A funny José Nieto telling Agnes Morehead she is as beautiful as a fruit in season (though may be you have to be Spanish to enjoy it). And some other beautiful: the cave sequence, the opening with the mills (with remembrances from Orson Welles), besides some glimmer of magic in the acting of Sanders, Morehead and Roc. All the outdoor footage in black and white at the Mallorca seaside is also remarkable.

And of course, the musical sequence (magistrally shot) with Lola Flores and Manolo Caracol making some flamenco sketches at the top of their art is something all spaniards should be proud of

A Spanish-French-UK production with a cast about ready to fade into either oblivion or television. Dalio turns in the best performance as the weasel captain of a tramp steamer, but an echo of his earlier work under greats like Jean Renoir. Moorehead is also deliciously double-crossing. Saunders is caught out of his element trying to create a character similar to Harry Lime in The 3rd Man--the shady, disillusioned post-war 'businessman'. Bogart might have made this role succeed; however, none could equal the archtypal performance by Welles as Harry Lime. As it is, Saunders is not credible as a conflicted entrepreneur and completely unbelievable as a wheezing love interest for Patricia Roc, herself well past the ingenue stage. Herbert Marshall turns in the same performance he will soon do weekly in Times Square Playhouse for American television yawn. Great moments of outdoor cinematography in the all-natural sound stage of the Spanish Mediterranean by the director who gave us Pepe LeMoko.

An early production effort by the Salkind brothers (Superman) this uneasy mixture of neo-realism and and standard actioner was plagued with production problems. Location filming on Majorca dragged on for an incredible seven months. Rushes had to be sent to the mainland for processing so it was impossible to view progress on a daily basis. Some of the post-synching in outdoors scenes is muffled and doesn't seem to match the actors voices in studio sequences.The photography is also uneven, even though the cinematographer Andre Thomas was married to leading lady Patricia Roc some of her close ups are less than flattering. The climax of the film set on two boats is so badly edited that you have a job working out what is going on. George Sanders is completely miscast in an Errol Flynn role whilst poor Pat Roc struggles with an unevenly written part as a Swedish refugee, seeming constantly on the verge of hysterics for no good reason. The technical shortcomings sink a potentially enjoyable film

This movie has a peculiar pedigree: shot in Mallorca, Spain, by a French director, with an English-speaking cast in the main roles. Also it has never been remastered for a DVD release and the current prints are not in such a hot shape. Nevertheless, if you hold on for a rough start, it becomes more involving in its 2nd half as it springs a couple of genuine surprises on the viewer. Agnes Moorehead steals the show. Unfortunately, the ending conforms to censorship rules. **1/2 out of 4.

Released at a time when Duvivier was going again from strength to strength ."Black Jack" which was sandwiched between the overlooked extraordinary "Au Royaume des Cieux" and the dazzling stunning "Sous Le Ciel de Paris" , is a jumble,which Duvivier himself hated,which is not surprising.There's almost nothing to write about this dud.We can notice that:

1.Orson Welles used to admire Duvivier .That may explain why Wellesian actors were featured in Duvivier's movies :Joseph Cotten in "Lydia" (1941) ,and here a totally wasted Agnes Moorehead .It's the first time

I have not enjoyed Moorehead's performance!On the other hand,Welles borrowed his Desdemona (Suzanne Cloutier) from Duvivier's "Au Royaume des Cieux" for his "Othello".

2.In any Duvivier's movie,there's one or two worthwhile sequences and this one is no exception: the search in the caves where Duvivier's sense of mystery works wonders (for a short while);then the chase when Dalio gets caught up in the fishnets.Duvivier's touch can be felt in the unhappy end too.

As for the rest ,as my dear pen pal writer's reign writes,it's a black joke.