Les échappés du néant

Airplane (with passengers) crashed in jungle near tribe of head-hunters. Great ending to this one. The always dependable Robert Ryan is the pilot and Rod Steiger is outstanding as a criminal on his way to prison. Gorgeous Anita Ekberg is on hand with various American types to fill out the slate.

A 7 out of 10. Best performance = Mr. Steiger. Tension really builds in this one after the first hour. It's tough to see what's coming, but it's worth the wait. Definitely in the Top 10 of 1956. Jon Provost (from LASSIE) is the little kid. Keith Andes (Skip Homier's brother) is co-pilot.

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.

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.****

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.

This might be considered a B movie, but it is in a word very entertaining. The cast of different characters and portrayals of those roles are very well done. The movie sets you up for what is about to happen and then plunges you full throttle into the story. It is every bit as entertaining and full of drama as the later Airport movies of the 1970's. In fact, in many ways this is much better. It is very fun to see Jesse White in a role other than the Maytag repair man. The same can be said for actors Fred Clark, Jon Provost, Gene Barry and the rest who were more famous for other roles. You have to love Rod Steiger's character. He is definitely the most interesting in the movie. It is a nice little movie in character studies and how they deal with a forced landing in a jungle clearing with a cannibal tribe nearby. This movie stacks up to the airport and other flight disaster movies quite well. I first saw this as a teenager and I never forgot it, especially when the decision had to be made to see who stayed behind and especially who made the decision. For this being a B movie it is still very first rate and gets an A in viewing pleasure.