| Safe in Hell | |
|---|---|
 Swedish theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | William A. Wellman |
| Screenplay by | |
| Based on | A play byHouston Branch |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Sidney Hickox |
| Edited by | Owen Marks |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 73 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Safe in Hell is a 1931 Americanpre-Codedrama film directed byWilliam A. Wellman and starringDorothy Mackaill andDonald Cook, with featured performances byMorgan Wallace,Ralf Harolde,Nina Mae McKinney,Clarence Muse, andNoble Johnson. The screenplay byJoseph Jackson and Maude Fulton is based on a play byHouston Branch.[1]
Gilda Karlson is a prostitute inNew Orleans, accused of murdering Piet Van Saal, the man responsible for ending her former job as a secretary and leading her into prostitution. Her old boyfriend, sailor Carl Erickson, smuggles her to safety toTortuga, an island in the Caribbean Sea from which she cannot be extradited. On the island, Gilda and Carl get "married" without a clergyman to officiate, and she swears to be faithful to him. After Carl leaves on his ship, Gilda discovers she is the only white woman in a hotel full of international criminals, all of whom try to seduce her. Especially persistent is Mr. Bruno, who describes himself as "the jailer and executioner of this island". He intercepts letters Carl sends to her and steals the support money he includes. Bruno's intention is to make Gilda think Carl has abandoned her, hoping she will seek his assistance once she becomes desperate for cash.
Later, Gilda is astonished and relieved when Van Saal suddenly arrives on the island. He explains that he had faked his death and enlisted his wife to collect on his $50,000 life-insurance policy. After receiving the money, Van Saal abandoned his wife, who then revealed his fraud to the authorities—forcing him to flee the country. Bruno, now pretending to be concerned for Gilda's safety, gives her a pistol to protect herself. When Van Saal comes to her room and attempts to rape her, Gilda shoots and kills him. She is tried for murder and seems destined for acquittal by a sympathetic jury. While awaiting the official verdict, Bruno tells her that even if she is found innocent, he will arrest her for possessing the "deadly weapon" he had given to her. The sentence will be at least six months in his prison camp, where he will provide her with very comfortable living conditions in return for sexual favors.
Gilda rushes back to the judge and falsely confesses to killing Van Saal "in cold blood", preferring to be executed rather than break her vow to Carl. As Gilda awaits her execution, she is surprised by Carl's return. He happily tells her about his new job and begins making plans for their life together back in New Orleans. Rather than telling him the truth about her circumstances, Gilda tearfully bids him goodbye and leaves him with the impression that she will join him soon. After he departs, Gilda, followed by two policemen and Bruno, slowly walks to thegallows.
Cast notes
Filming ofSafe in Hell began in mid-September 1931 under the working titlesLady from New Orleans andLost Lady, and it was completed in less than five weeks, "wrapping up" on October 18.[4][5]
The production was originally scheduled to be directed byMichael Curtiz, and the casting of some male roles in the film initially includedDavid Manners,Boris Karloff, John Harrington,Montague Love, andRichard Bennett. First National Pictures also consideredLilian Bond andBarbara Stanwyck for the part of Gilda.[5][6]
Safe in Hell opened in Los Angeles onThanksgiving Day, November 26, 1931, screening at theWarner Bros. Hollywood Theatre.[7][8] It opened at New York City'sStrand Theatre on December 17, 1931.[9]
TheWarner Archive Collection released the film on DVD in 2011.[10] The Warner Archive released a newly-restored version of the film onBlu-ray on April 25, 2023.[11]
Safe in Hell was publicized at the time of its release as being "Not for Children".[5] In its December 22, 1931 review, the widely readVariety described the film's storyline as implausible and its overall tone excessively dark. The publication also noted that McKinney and Muse's performances provide the few bright spots in an otherwise "depressing" production:
Picture's story is hardboiled and sordid. Too much so most of the time, which is "Safe in Hell's" chief deficiency. Dorothy Mackaill plays a bad lady all the way to the finish, when she reforms morally while on her way to the gallows...A sad and unsatisfactory finish is obviously an attempt to lend credence to an impossible yarn. It doesn't help, for as long as the story is thoroughly unbelievable up to the finish, no ending could change that impression. Those who go for this sort of stuff won't care for the exit...Nina Mae McKinney, with one song, and Clarence Muse are the colored comedy relief, but up against too much of a handicap in the form of a constantly depressing air of evil which prevails throughout the picture.[12]
Time was less harsh in its assessment of the film thanVariety, but the weekly in its December 28, 1931 edition calls it "crude, trite, sporadically exciting."[13] ThePittsburgh Post-Gazette disparaged the film in its February 1, 1932 issue, characterizing its plot as illogical and its presentation unintentionally humorous: "Miss Mackaill is too good for the likes of her role while the villains are acted with self-conscious bestiality and amusing indifference." The newspaper then states that McKinney's performance is "the best thing in the picture."[14]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes,100% of 7 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.3/10.[15]
A copy ofSafe in Hell is held in theLibrary of Congress collection.[16]
