A Surprisingly Unforgettable Movie!

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Somewhat tacky entry in the genre of films about murderous lovers and their inevitable undoing. Robert Ryan (Carson) is good as a tycoon who shows excellent coping skills after being abandoned in the California desert by his unfaithful wife Geraldine (Rhonda Fleming) and her slimy lover Duncan (William Lundigan). It's a little tiresome overhearing Carson's thought processes, but how else are we going to know what's going on, and he does OK in a physically demanding role. The lovers are much poorly written by comparison, and we never quite believe that they'd kill to be together. Geraldine spends most of her time looking sexy and worried, and Duncan gains entry to the cad's hall of fame with one particularly callous toss of a canteen. Ouch!!The movie ends on a genuinely touching note, with a message about man helping his fellow man. I loved Ryan's final words to his wife. This may not be a film for the ages, but it definitely kept my interest.

"Inferno" is a film with a very simple plot. Despite this, it was given top treatment by improved sound AND 3D! And, as you watch, you can see in quite a few places that 3D gimmicks would abound...but it's still basically a good film.When the film begins, a rich man is injured in the desert and his unfaithful wife and her lover decide to leave him there to die of exposure. The problem is that Donald (Robert Ryan) is a very tough guy and he's determined to not only survive but last long enough to exact revenge. Fortunately, where the movie goes next is a bit unusual and yet satisfying.Much of the film consists of Donald talking to himself by having Ryan do voiceovers. This is risky but the director manages to make it work...and the film manages to take a very simple story yet make it worth your time.

You only have to watch INFERNO for a few moments to realize it was filmed originally in 3-D, the popular fad that existed in the early '50s to draw people away from their TV sets.But here, at least, it's used to great effect with many camera shots showing things tossed at the camera obviously designed for 3-D effect. But best of all, the story is a good one involving a man's survival on the desert after being dumped there by his greedy wife (RHONDA FLEMING) and her lover (WILLIAM LUNDIGAN). Fleming looks ravishing in Technicolor but she's a cold-hearted bitch.Surprisingly, it's ROBERT RYAN who turns into a sympathetic character once his situation looks hopeless. Another twist in the casting is having Lundigan play a villain for a change.The payoff (when it comes) is effective, as the plot moves toward an action-filled climax in the cabin where Ryan has been befriended by HENRY HULL. Lundigan returns with a shotgun aiming to make sure Ryan is dead when all hell breaks loose.Tidy little thriller is worth watching, well directed for taut suspense by Roy Ward Baker. Good cinematography, even without the 3-D look, and the well choreographed fight between Lundigan and Ryan is a realistic one.

In the history of motion pictures only two ideas (as far as I know) failed to catch on in improving the movies we see. One is the laughable "Aroma-vision" that was tried out in the late 1950s with a film that Peter Lorre and Desmond Elliot made called SCENT OF MYSTERY. People just don't like certain odors that can be on the screen in films. But the other was an 3-D, which should have succeeded. If you want to have a more realism in movies, then you should have a movie where depth adds some degree of reality. But 3-D was not used properly. The best recalled uses are in grade z films like ROBOT MONSTER. The best uses of the process were in Alfred Hitchcock's DIAL "M" FOR MURDER, in the Vincent Price horror classic HOUSE OF WAX, and in INFERNO. But while Hitchcock's and Price's films are well remembered (and seen frequently), INFERNO has been generally ignored.It stars Robert Ryan, Rhonda Fleming, William Lundigan, Larry Keating, and Henry Hull. Ryan begins the film in one of his typically negative characterizations - a millionaire married to Fleming who treats everyone around him as a servant to do his bidding. Sort of like a follow up to his Smith Ohlrig in CAUGHT, only with a new bride. He is going on vacation, and he is accompanied by his wife and a guide played by Lundigan. But Fleming and Lundigan are having a love affair, and when Ryan is injured they realize that they can get rid of him, collect his fortune, and then marry. They leave the obnoxious millionaire in the desert with just a six shooter and a canteen with water. He also has a broken leg. They figure they can report he wandered off, they could not trace him, and in a week the police can find his corpse.Ryan fools them. Always intelligent in his roles, he growls as soon as he is alone, "They think I'll drink up all my water!" He starts an enforced rationing. He also makes a crutch. Finally he shows his patience in becoming a careful hunter - carefully using his gun to kill game only when it is available. Soon he is able to start following the stars to get back to civilization. And his disappearance is not being casually dismissed by the discovery of his body by the authorities led by Carl Betz. And Fleming and Lundigan are beginning to get nervous - and a bit less lovey-dovey with each other.But the best part of this film, aside from the careful script and performances, was director Roy Baker's brilliant use of 3-D. He wanted the size of that desert Ryan is marooned in to be really evident to the audience, and his shots of the miles of mesas and sand are deeply impressive. It adds to one's realization of just what Ryan is up against to survive. Actually it was the best use of the process in Hollywood movies, and it makes one regret that John Ford did not think of using the process in say THE SEARCHERS or TWO RODE TOGETHER. Ford's use of "Monument Valley" was always brilliant - imagine if it too had been in 3-D.