Directed by: Harry Lachman
Written by: Philip Klein + Robert Yost
Starring: Spencer Tracy, Claire Trevor, Henry B. Walthall, Alan Dinehart, Scotty Beckett, Robert Gleckler, Rita Hayworth
Spencer Tracy plays a man who lucks into carnival barking as a result of meeting a man, played by Henry B. Walthall, who runs a concession known as 'Dante's Inferno.' Walthall soon becomes Tracy's father-in-law, and Tracy becomes a successful businessman. He launches a huge, gaudy Inferno employing ruthless means to get the property. Though a wonderful husband and father, in his corporate world, he stops at nothing to get what he wants, including cheating, bribery, and ignoring possible dangers. The consequences are disastrous.
This film features three giant set pieces that must have thrilled audiences in 1935. Two of them are large scale disasters, the first on the boardwalk pier and the second aboard a luxury liner. But the most memorable and eye popping of these set pieces is a lengthy dream sequence where Tracy descends into hell. We see mountains of tortured souls writhing naked in lava, masses of hooded demons marching into oblivion, the damned, suffering, screaming as they are tortured for all eternity. Even if you don't believe a hell exists, this is some visually powerful stuff.
Unfortunately, besides these memorable sequences the story is pretty routine. Poor man makes it big, destroys his soul in the process, and in the end repents to his loving wife (only after countless people are killed by his greed and carelessness. Twice.) At times it seems that the rest of the film was written around the amazing dream sequence. They needed a story to lead into that trip through the underworld, and what they came up with was pretty routine. But no matter, for the film features some amazing special effects for that era, some that could still impress today.
Final Verdict: See It
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