Disappointing version of The Most Dangerous Game, despite being in colour, with a decent budget and strong cast. It takes a while to get going, as we follow journo Jane Greer down to Mexico where she's tracking down missing Hemingway-style author Richard Widmark. Greer isn't very sympathetic - she's upset when a lay Mexican won't carry her luggage and gives a Mexican who can't speak English very well an elaborate drink order in English. She falls in love with Widmark and can't bring herself to tell her Secret; we get a bit of boring character stuff from Widmark who explains he's bitter because his wife had an affair with his best friend. (Did they have to pump up this part to attract Widmark or something?) Anyway, Widmark offers to fly Greer to Mexico City but he gets lost and the plane crashes in a jungle where they are rescued by Trevor Howard and Peter Van Eyck. They wind up on the run from them.
Now hints are dropped that Howard is into hunting humans - he has lots of guns, and a pack of wild dogs. But they don't ever say he does - he's motivated to chase Widmark and Greer because Widmark recognises him as a Lord Haw Haw like traitor during the war (van Eyck is his brother in law). Which kind of robs the whole story of its point - about humans being game, and the former hunter learning a lesson. It just makes it a standard chase film.
Some of the chase is interesting, as is the location work. At times I wished Widmark and Howard had swapped roles but both are okay. Greer is a bit of a debit - her character isn't very smart, and there's not much chemistry with her and Widmark (at least Fay Wray got progressively nuder in the 1932 film).
The ending bit has a rip off of Rogue Male with Widmark managing to outsmart Howard while being cornered using an item handed by Howard through the door (in this case a bullet - it's a clever bit of business but co-scripter Dudley Nichols used it before in his version of the tale, Man Hunt.)
Watchable - but why didn't they use stuff from the original story? (The director was Roy Boulting, then going through the international phase of his career - he was okay with suspense not so crash hot with action.)
(NB The executive producer was Bob Waterfield - Jane Russell's football playing husband. He and Russell had a four picture deal with United Artists at the time.)
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