Fire Down Below

Fire Down Below

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Customer Reviews

Fire Down Below

Reviewed by E. Hockenberry, 2010-02-17

I bought this movie for my Dad, I haven't watched it, but he says it is a very good movie and that they just don't make em like they used to!

Fire Down Below

Reviewed by Harry Brewer, 2009-06-10

Fire Down Below has its moments but never rises above average. The cast is a good one that stars Rita Hayworth, Robert Mitchum & Jack Lemmon. The supporting cast includes Herbert Lom (most of the Pink Panther films) & Anthony Newley in a lesser role.

Felix (Robert Mitchum) & Tony (Jack Lemmon) are owners of a boat in the Caribbean. They lease it for fishing but they will also do almost anything, including illegal activities, for the right price. The story centers on one of their illegal acts, transporting Irena (Rita Hayworth), to another nearby island. This leads to conflict between Felix & Tony because they both want to have Irena. Irena is a femme fatale who plays one against the other. Irena seems to want Felix more which leads Tony to a severe case of jealousy. As usual for most Hayworth films, she does a powerfully suggestive dance in one scene, this time it's a limbo.

The two friends have a bitter falling out & they go their separate ways. Their animosity becomes so intense that they attempt to harm the other. Tony ends up on a French ship that catches fire & he becomes trapped underneath steel beams & debris due to an explosion. A good portion of the film deals with this incident & leads Felix to assisting in the rescue of Tony.

But the film never really takes off. I found myself not really caring that much to what was going on with the characters, I didn't feel "involved". Fire Down Below was directed by Robert Parrish who wasn't on Hollywood's A-list. Parrish was an actor originally, then turned to editing, songwriter for one film then became a director. He did receive two nominations from the Academy for editng: In 1947 he was nominated & won for Body and Soul, nominated again in 1949 for All the Kings Men but didn't win. He would edit one more film before he turned to directing almost exclusively.

So bad we couldn't watch the whole movie

Reviewed by C. Bauss, 2009-03-28

We tried to watch "Fire Down Below" at a friend's house a few months ago; our friend is a real film buff, as am I, and my partner was looking forward to it too, given the great cast. Unfortunately, it stank to high heaven; the limbo-dance scene in the opening credits was the only thing worth watching. After that, it went downhill quickly, and after an hour of feeling embarrassed for actually watching it, we switched it off.

Bad experience

Reviewed by Lisa Venezia, 2008-12-07

Never received item and never received notice that item was not in stock. I had to finally inquire as to what happened, then got the run around with answers to what happened and my refund. Still don't think I ever received my money back. Very unhappy with treatment I the handling of the situation.

Botched brilliance

Reviewed by Anonymous, 2008-01-11

Great cast, great premise, great cinematography but botched construction, (but this could have been fault of studio rather than the actual director, Robert Parrish), and possibly, to Region 2 viewers, a lost gem.

Had the whole movie script been constructed in flashbacks: from Mitchum's, Lemmon's and Jimmy's, (sorry can't recall actor's name), perspectives about Rita's character and impact on their lives, it could have been great. As it is, its a fond memory I first saw as a little kid...but its always stuck in my mind. Looking at it now I reckon its got some of Rita's best acting, (along side Seperate Tables, They Came to Cordura and her lighter but equally effective performance in Pal Joey). Unfortunately the movie's construction is very flawed and allows Rita's character, the driver of the plot, to drop out in second half...but to compensate.... she does have great presence in the last scene.

What is infuriating is Amazon's and other suppliers' marketing of these rare DVD movies as they often do not make it clear for which Region the films are formated!

Whilst on marketing theme, why do Amazon and other suppliers constantly promote forthcoming boxed sets and omit to tell us which actual movies are contained within. Usually these are cynical recycling of DVDs that have already been on the market for ages but just occasionly there's a little treasure in there that we don't know about because they don't tell us in the blurb on line.