Les échappés du néant

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.

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.****

After having just seen BACK FROM ETERNITY for the first time in about a "hundred" years, I really have to weigh in with my opinion on this. It is one of the few times when the remake is an improvement on the original, exceptionally so.

I saw the original (FIVE CAME BACK) some time ago and, from what I can tell, the only thing which could possibly raise it even slightly above the superior remake is the curiosity factor of having Lucille Ball in the cast. Other than that, the acting and the production were very wooden and dated, and the overall cast pales in comparison to that which was assembled for ETERNITY.

For anyone not familiar with the story, a plane crashes in the midst of a remote South American jungle. Besides the pilot and co-pilot, there are nine passengers: a so-called "fallen woman", an engaged couple, an elderly professor and his wife, a small boy and his guardian, and a cop with a prisoner in tow. They must stay alive until the plane is repaired, a task complicated by the realization that they are surrounded by a hostile tribe of headhunters.

Here you have Robert Ryan instead of Chester Morris, Rod Steiger instead of Joseph Calleia, and Gene Barry instead of Patric Knowles. Ryan and Steiger especially, in the main roles, display more screen presence and acting talent in this one film than their predecessors were able to conjure up in their entire careers.

Ryan plays the world-weary pilot, another of his sturdy and dependable performances which are often overlooked and not fully appreciated because he made it seem so effortless. Steiger has the more colorful role as the anarchist, with only imprisonment and execution waiting for him if and when they make it back to civilization. The same talent, which would gain an Oscar for the actor some ten years later, is clearly evident here.

The underrated Keith Andes (as the co-pilot, instead of forgettable Kent Taylor) gives a hint of the star he could have become, and the equally underrated Phyllis Kirk is far more effective in her role than whoever played it in the original. Barry, usually cast as a good guy, gives a good account of himself, playing Kirk's fiancée. Whereas most of the other passengers rise to the occasion, his character becomes increasingly desperate, grasping, and unstable.

Anita Ekberg, frequently dismissed as an actress, may not have been as talented as Lucille Ball (who played the part in the original), but at least proved that she could indeed act, and is certainly more convincing in this type of role than Lucy was.

Of note is a pre-Lassie Jon Provost as the little boy. Jesse White, better known for his work in comedic films, does a fine job as the boy's roughhewn guardian, and Fred Clark is good at giving a distasteful stamp to the rather seedy cop. Above all, Cameron Prudhomme and Beulah Bondi, as the old professor and his mrs., give two very moving, heartfelt performances.

The story concerns the characters' survival, how each holds up under the pressure and are changed by the situation. Steiger begins to rediscover some of the values of his youth, but then finally takes it upon himself to decide who will live and who will die, when it is learned that some must stay behind. The conclusion builds to a shattering climax that will stay with you long after the film ends. This is the remake to see and it is definitely worth seeing.

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.

This tale was previously filmed in 1939 ,by the same director ,John Farrow and in that version it was a lean,mean and exciting B-movie.Here it lasts 20 minutes or so longer and this additional running time consists mainly of padding ,which serves to dilute the impact of the movie.It means that the minor classic of an earlier era has become a solid and enjoyable movie from the era in which it was made . The story revolves around a plane crash in the remote jungles of South America. The pilot declares he is able to repair the plane and it will fly some of them back to safety ,the problem being there is only room for 5 people on board the repaired vessel ,which means some will have to stay behind and take their chances with the inhospitable terrain and the hostile natives who are unhappy about this incursion into their domain . The survivors are a disparate group-there is the hard drinking pilot (Robert Ryan) ,a Vegas performer (Anita Ekberg),a criminal en route to execution (Rod Steiger) and the sadistic cop accompanying him (Fred Clark),a socialite and her milquetoast fiancé (Phyllis Kirk and Gene Barry),the co-pilot (Keith Andes),a distinguished elderly academic and his wife of many years (Cameron Proudhomme and Beulah Bondi).The party is rounded out by a 4 year old boy(Jon Provost) The movie sees the party disintegrate under the strain as tensions erupt and violence breaks out before the final decision is a made

The movie is well acted -,especially by Steiger ,Barry and Ryan ,has a crisp Franz Waxman score and delivers solid entertainment all round .It would ,in my view have benefited from being a tad leaner and more economical but there is still a good time to be had from watching it