El mal

Hard-drinking medico, mourning the death of his family in a small Mexican village inhabited by construction workers and visiting prostitutes, is bitten by a dog he later learns was rabid; his journey to get proper medical help from the next town over is fraught with obstacles and calamities. Though low-budget, "Rage" is one of Glenn Ford's best movies from the mid-'60s, a rugged adventure filmed in Durango by a mostly-Hispanic crew. Ford, together with burnt-out prostie Stella Stevens and faithful amigo David Reynoso, digs deep to give us a full-blooded character, and the insanity surrounding him is aptly filmed by cinematographer Rosalío Solano (who does go all-out with the animated camera angles, yet which provides some needed relief). Stevens, as usual, is catty, sarcastic, but with a heart of gold--she's wonderful--and Reynoso is terrific standing by the doctor through the thickest of troubles. Unusual and gripping, this race-against-time is well-written, with peculiar but effective music from Gustavo César Carrión. **1/2 from ****

Mr. Ford never got the recognition he deserved for the consistent quality of his acting. 'Rage' also seems to have been forgotten in the shuffle, but is actually a very enjoyable film. The story is simple: a lush doctor is bitten by a rabid dog and has only a limited time to find the antidote before the diseases manifests itself. Doesn't sound like much of a story, but with a little help from Stella Stevens, who puts in a good performance as 'fallen woman', the plot moves along nicely. Some local flavor of the Mexican countryside is thrown in and all in all, a very enjoyable flic.

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 saw this strange dark film on late night TV when I was a kid and it made an impression on me - certain intense scenes stayed with me - the rickety bridge crossings, the local man getting rabies and being brought in by ropes by the townspeople, Ford's dog mad from rabies, etc. I just saw it again and I really enjoyed it. It is well done, obviously on a low budget as part of an American/Mexican production. Ford is quite good as a depressed, drunk doctor at a rural Mexican mining town who gets bit by a dog and gets rabies - he then has to try and drive through harsh desert to make it into the next town in time to get the serum he needs to survive. Stella Stevens is a "dance hall girl" who is brought in with a troupe of gals to entertain the workers. Stevens is so damn hot in this flick - at the height of her Swinging Sixties sexiness. If you liked this film and the genre - try George Kennedy in the equally good A Cry In The Wilderness - a 1974 TV film about a man with rabies.

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.