Scanialara
You won't be disappointed!
SpuffyWeb
Sadly Over-hyped
Ezmae Chang
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Martin Bradley
No-one would ever accuse "Fire Down Below" of being a good film but photographed in Cinemascope and Technicolour on location in the Caribbean it's certainly a handsome one, Throw in Robert Mitchum, Rita Hayworth and Jack Lemmon and it becomes a film with star quality as well. The plot is as old as the hills as pals Mitchum and Lemmon fall out over Hayworth, the woman they are transporting 'from nowhere to nowhere'. The film generates a little excitement, (though not much), when Lemmon gets trapped in a ship that is about to blow up. The terrible dialogue is courtesy of Irwin Shaw from a book by Max Catto and director Robert Parrish was hardly the man to turn a pig's ear into a silk purse.
FrostyChud
I liked it! At first I thought it was going to be a corny Jack Lemmon comedy but it turned out to be something totally different. I love movies that shift gears halfway through (Psycho, Vertigo)...this movie does the same thing. Even if it probably wasn't intentional, it was effective. I liked the film's bravery...women like Rita like men like Mitchum, and that's the long and the short of it. The last scene was pretty powerful...that kiss! OUCH! I think the long interlude with Jack Lemmon stuck on the ship was important...as if what was happening back on the island (the inevitable affair between Rita and Robert) were too unbearable to show...this is a film about solitude...
Jackson Booth-Millard
With James Bond producer Albert R. Broccoli involved and some really good stars this sounded worth a watch, so I did. Basically Tony (Jack Lemmon) and Felix (Robert Mitchum) sail around the Caribbean in their tramp boat doing odd jobs and drinking. While travelling they meet Irena (Rita Hayworth) and agree to take her to another island, and they both fall for her, leading to a break-up of partnership and betrayal. Tony goes on a cargo ship to take a job, but after a crash his legs are trapped underneath a large metal structure, and it seems only Felix can help him. Also starring Herbert Lom as Harbor Master, Bonar Colleano as Lt. Sellars, Anthony Newley as Miguel, Bernard Lee as Dr. Sam Blake, Edric Connor as Jimmy Jean and Peter Illing as Captain of the 'Ulysses'. It is unfortunate that the film itself turned out not to be very interesting, it was pretty boring actually. Adequate!
filmbuff-147
A delightful film albeit relatively unknown (most people think the title belongs to the later Steven Seagal film). One of those unexpected pleasures to watch as everything gels so that you end up with video moments in your head that stick with you for years. This film could be dismissed as just a love triangle in the Caribbean but it is one of those rare films where the sum is greater than the parts. Fine acting every where. Very nice photography. And while it seems to slow down in the middle to the obvious where the 2 stars, Mitchum and Hayworth, end up together stay with it. The unexpected twist in the final act is a grabber.Forget the all star cast and the expectations that go with that. Sit back, relax and let yourself be pulled into a really good movie that just moves you along into a marvelous final act. When its over you'll sit back and say to yourself: Now that's a movie -let's watch it again.
