Les échappés du néant

Why John Farrow decided there had to be a remake of FIVE CAME BACK (which he directed earlier) remains a mystery to me. The script here is pretty much the same thing--standard plane crash with survivors lost in the jungle--and all on a studio set that looks like no more than a studio set. So much for reality.

But the performances he draws from his cast are almost enough to make the film as engrossing as it strives to be. The passengers are a mixed lot--among them a beauteous Anita Ekberg who poses prettily but makes no real effort to act. On the other hand, Robert Ryan and Keith Andes, as co-pilots, Beulah Bondi and Cameron Prud'Homme as an elderly couple, Phyllis Kirk and Gene Barry as a mismatched young couple, and Jon Provost (before his Lassie fame) do excellent jobs considering the fact that their roles are stereotypes. There are also less fortunate roles played by Adele Mara, Jesse White and Fred Clark. Mara's sudden exit from the plane at the height of the storm at least spares her the difficulty of facing the rest of the film as a stranded stewardess.

Top-lined in the cast is Rod Steiger as a criminal facing execution once he is returned to authorities. In an ironic twist of fate, he's the one who eventually chooses who shall leave the jungle crash scene and who shall not.

Interesting, but no real improvement over the original except for a few of the performances. All in all, good B-picture entertainment.

The most convincing moments are the plane's anxious moments during a wild thunderstorm. This is by and far the most visually compelling part of the film in which Farrow's direction (and some good special effects) shows his capabilities.