So much average

Good movie but grossly overrated

From my favorite movies..

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The brilliant James Whale prepared to wrap up his screen career by directing this adventure yarn with a marvelous cast, giving Saturday matinée audiences loads of pleasure but sadly not utilizing the color that this film so desperately calls for. His story is preposterous but told in such an entertaining manner that the story hardly matters. All you need to do is grab a bag of popcorn, sit back and enjoy an early variation of what audiences in 1981 got a kick out of with "Raiders of the Lost Ark". O.K., so there aren't any Nazi's for Douglas Fairbanks Jr. to chase in the jungles of South America, but there are plenty of arrow-flinging head hunters as well as a tomb filled with golden artifacts, leading to an adventure-filled flick that may not have done its director any good (considering his horror masterpieces such as "Frankenstein" and "The Old Dark House", as well as the marvelous 1936 movie version of the musical "Show Boat"), but remains marvelous entertainment.Joan Bennett enters the scene about a third into the film after her husband (a non-villainous Vincent Price) becomes the first victim of a head-hunter's arrow. Much like Deborah Kerr in "King Solomon's Mines", she brings romance into the story, distracting Fairbanks from chasing the film's one villain (Francis McDonald) and leading to an obvious conclusion. George Sanders is profound as another member of the team who faces death with dignity as the natives approach their fortress, and Alan Hale (Sr.) is the wise doctor amongst the group. Hundreds of extras in native costume fill out the population of guides and head-hunting natives. Considering that he appeared in practically every other Universal film of this nature, it is surprising that Andy Devine wasn't cast here to provide comic relief. The one acting embarrassment is John Howard as a cowardly member of the team. While Bennett is gorgeous in her new Hedy Lamarr make-over, her character here is not as memorable, being rather lady too lady-like and not at all like those vixens she would begin playing a few years later in a series of memorable melodramas and film noir.

Well actually, Green Hell is not as bad as all that, it begins strongly and has some decent battles at the end. But what started off promising goes to dust once the two best actors of the movie, George Sanders and Vincent Price, get killed off early on, and Joan Bennett's very irritatingly dull character gets introduced, making a short spout of perhaps unintentional fun turn to tedium after a while. Green Hell doesn't look that lavish and the sets are rather hokey. The dialogue is unbearably corny and the story is full of predictability, a complete lack of credibility(I agree about people sounding too much like they come from Kansas) and contrived situations. James Whale's direction seems disengaged and does little to make anything exciting or thrilling, the two main things that a jungle adventure does need. The acting looks great on paper, but most take their roles too seriously(Douglas Fairbanks Jnr, Joan Bennett) or try hard but are not in the movie anywhere near long enough(George Sanders, Vincent Price). Overall, not a complete disaster but ludicrous, contrived and corny and possibly the worst films of Whale and Price(possibly Fairbanks as well). 3/10 Bethany Cox

With a cast that includes some big names (Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Joan Bennett) and a couple of guys who usually play fascinating villains (Vincent Price and George Sanders) you'd think this movie would be a lot more entertaining than it is. Also, for an adventure story of men going into the jungle to find lost gold from an ancient civilization might also spark added interest...but that didn't work, either.Credibility is a big problem here, at least looking at this film 50-plus years after it was made. When you see South American natives that look and sound like they came right off the farm in Kansas, it's tough to take the movie seriously! The sets were pretty hokey, too, and the dialog was really corny.This was another movie that started off strong and the quickly became horrible and stayed that way.

Started off promising but got bogged down in the middle with the introduction of Mrs. Richardson (Joan Bennett). Warning, spoilers will most likely be in the rest of the review. It seemed kind of pointless to kill off Vincent Price so early in the movie, a lot was made of how mysterious he was. Also, convenient of George Sanders to kill himself just before they get rescued, this prevents any kind of entanglements there might have been if they all had been rescued. The fun thing to do with this film, is that knowing that director James Whale was gay, is to look at the characters in another light. Isn't it strange that everything was going great with the exploring party made up of just men but once Bennett comes along everything goes to hell? Also what was the deal with John Howard and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.? It sure seemed to me that Howard was carrying a torch for Doug. Oh, the mind reels.