Safe in Hell

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Wayne K @WayneKelso Aug 18 A title like Safe In Hell suggests a much more salacious story than what we’re actually given, but even in pre-code times there was only so much you could get away with. Its a tragic story about doomed love and trying to live under impossible circumstances. Set almost entirely on the tropical island of Tortuga, which I was convinced was a Pirates Of The Caribbean invention, the characters are a classic rogues gallery of thieves, conmen and vagrants. The scandalous material is mostly subtextual, with nothing outright shown on screen but frequently hinted at. You often forget about the male lead since he’s barely in the film, but his doomed romance with Gilda forms it’s emotional core, and as convoluted as the ending sequence is, things conclude on a fittingly downbeat note. A rare film that does comedy and drama equally well. See more Allan C @RT15713161 Aug 10 Pre-Code Tropical Hell Full of Perverts Safe in Hell (1932) ***1/2 This wild pre-Code drama follows a prostitute who flees to a Caribbean island after killing an abusive man, only to find herself surrounded by an assortment of creeps, criminals, and perverts while trying to avoid both assault and arrest. SAFE IN HELL is more entertaining for its shockingly frank and salacious material than its average performances or somewhat silly story, but the sheer audacity of seeing such racy subject matter in a 1932 film makes it a fascinating pre-Code curiosity. See more Connor S @CWSutherland 04/04/2023 "Passed the time" is a great way to put it. I love how edgy it is for its time, but not many memorable moments. See more 03/13/2018 I liked Dorothy Mackaill in this film; her acting feels natural and her character is feisty when fending off the unwanted advances of men. She's a prostitute, but the back story revealed is that she was once a secretary who was raped by her boss, and it was discovered by his wife. Instead of that resulting in trouble for the boss, she was summarily let go, and then the two of them prevented her from getting work elsewhere, so she resorted to selling herself. He then has the nerve to turn up and ask for her as a client. The two struggle and she accidentally kills him. Her old boyfriend (Donald Cook) turns up at the right time, and the two of them flee for a Caribbean island known for its lack of extradition laws. Whew, and that's just in the first 10 minutes or so. While the story may sound like it's sympathetic to the plight of this poor woman, I found it to be misogynistic and loathsome. The men on the island are all aroused by "the only white woman on the island", and when they're not ogling her or man-spreading (in one scene, almost comically, with chairs all facing her room), they take turns trying to get her into bed. She is expected to remain faithful to Cook, who had to leave her. When one finds out about her past and that she's not a virgin, he feels as if she's played him for a fool and betrayed him by turning her down. (The nerve of her!) The religious morality messages are also heavy-handed. To the horror of being forced into prostitution, the message is trust that God has a plan. To being left alone with a bunch of sex-starved criminals, the message is to keep the faith, and remain chaste. The undercurrent is that the burden is always on this woman, even when she kills someone to prevent being raped. I'm all for pre-code raciness, but the sentiment behind this one just isn't all that pleasant. On top of that, the script is lazy, and the production quality is low. There are far more enjoyable pre-code films, even if one constrains oneself to those directed by William A. Wellman in 1931 (see 'Night Nurse' and 'The Public Enemy'). Frankly, the highlight of the movie was the African-American characters of Nina Mae McKinney and Clarence Muse, who play the innkeeper and porter. They are presented to us as intelligent, playful, and articulate, which was a real rarity in films from this era. Their dialogue was apparently originally written in "Negro dialect", but happily they got away with not performing it that way. McKinney also sings a nice little number, "When It's Sleepy Time Down South". See more 11/29/2016 Pre-Code (i.e., before censorship and enforced happy endings) Hollywood feature by William Wellman and starring Dorothy Mackaill (who is in every virtually scene). She is a call girl (the only way she can make a living, she claims, and the woeful status of women might support it) who accidentally kills her former pimp. When her true love, a sailor, returns just at that moment, he loyally helpls her to escape to a Caribbean isle with no extradition laws to the US. She promises to be faithful and, despite the fact that alcohol is not banned, not to party either. As you would expect, her new land is filled with dissipated criminals who are sex-starved for a white woman (the film is as racist as it is sexist, although the two black characters, who run the hotel, are not caricatured fortunately). Eventually gives in but still keeps her chastity awaiting the return of her sailor; instead her pimp arrives seemingly back from the dead (but of course he was never really killed, just using the opportunity to score some insurance money). But, lo and behold, when he makes a move on Gilda this time, she kills him for good. The plot goes on - will she get the death penalty or not? And there are a few more twists and a fully downbeat conclusion (after only 73 minutes). At the end, I thought, well that wasn't much -- but somehow, over night, it haunted me a bit. Mackaill is a charismatic figure and she evokes the desperation of her plight and the psychological issues (faithfulness vs. hedonism in the face of a cruel unjust world) pretty well. Director Wellman is better known for The Public Enemy (1931) and A Star is Born (1937). See more 04/22/2014 awesome pre-code early talkie See more Read all reviews

Safe in Hell

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