Back from Eternity

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.

There were two problems with Back From Eternity which is not the fault of the people who actually made this film. RKO Studios was going out of business as Howard Hughes was busy folding it up. The film was released and then very quickly was on television as the entire RKO film library was. The second is unfortunately the film came out in the wake of The High and the Mighty. Most airplane pictures suffer in comparison to that one.

Not mind you that it could have been given better productions values. Color for the jungle scenes and maybe some location shooting instead of dusting off the same sets used for Five Came Back, for that matter for King Kong.

Remember RKO was owned by one of aviation's biggest boosters in Howard Hughes. Not that he couldn't have afforded some better productions values. But then again he was getting out of the film business at this time. Then again had he put some money into it, we also would have had more Hughes control and the results might have been interesting. Not necessarily good, but interesting.

That being said the cast does a fine job for director John Farrow. Like John Wayne in The High and the Mighty, Robert Ryan is fine as the able veteran airline pilot in charge of getting his passengers and crew back to safety after they've force landed in the South American jungle. Of course with the pulchritudinous Anita Ekberg on board and interested that's enough to give anyone a morale booster.

Rod Steiger plays the criminal on the way to his execution, a part done by Joseph Calleia in the original. Both are fine and are an interesting contrast in acting styles.

John Farrow added a few things here that were not in the original. One of the dumber things added was a chick fight between Phyllis Kirk and Anita Ekberg while they are stranded in the jungle. I mean was that really necessary John? Added nothing to the plot and kind of stupid when you come to think about it.

Still, chick fight and all, Back from Eternity is a good solid piece of entertainment that also asks some important questions about the quality of life collectively and the quality of how one spends his allotted time on earth.

This might be considered a B movie, but it is in a word very entertaining. The cast of different characters and portrayals of those roles are very well done. The movie sets you up for what is about to happen and then plunges you full throttle into the story. It is every bit as entertaining and full of drama as the later Airport movies of the 1970's. In fact, in many ways this is much better. It is very fun to see Jesse White in a role other than the Maytag repair man. The same can be said for actors Fred Clark, Jon Provost, Gene Barry and the rest who were more famous for other roles. You have to love Rod Steiger's character. He is definitely the most interesting in the movie. It is a nice little movie in character studies and how they deal with a forced landing in a jungle clearing with a cannibal tribe nearby. This movie stacks up to the airport and other flight disaster movies quite well. I first saw this as a teenager and I never forgot it, especially when the decision had to be made to see who stayed behind and especially who made the decision. For this being a B movie it is still very first rate and gets an A in viewing pleasure.

The long list of great movies attributed to Robert Ryan span from here to eternity and beyond. This film which is among his best is entitled " Back From Eternity. " It tells the story of a group of nine passengers traveling aboard a plane destined for remote locations. Unfortunately, the plane is forced to crash in the uncivilized, headhunter jungles of South America and the audience becomes more acquainted with the passenger list as they are exposed to indigenous danger. Robert Ryan is Bill Lonagan, the tired, world weary veteran pilot, who dreams of a place in the sun. Rod Steiger plays Vasquel, a condemned man facing the gallows. Keith Andes is Joe Brooks, the ever stalwart Co-Pilot. Gene Barry, Fred Clark, Jesse White and Jon Provost add definite color to the cast as does Anita Ekberg, Phyllis Kirk, Louise Melhorn, Beulah Bondi, Martha Spangler as the Stewardess. Each have reasons to live and a couple the courage to die. In between we learn just how deep convictions are and what we believe is not what we expect from appearances. Rod Steiger gives a sterling performance which should have earned him an Academy Award. The film has a certain panache worthy of a Classic and we who view it should be fortunate to have seen it. Recommended to any looking for a great movie.****

I first saw this film as a young boy, when it was first shown here in Australia, and I haven't seen it since, even on television. But it remains vivid in my memory solely because of the performance of Rod Steiger. His "villain with a soul" is a role he played in many subsequent films, and it is what makes him so absorbing and intriguing to watch. Nobody does brooding menace like Rod Steiger. In this film, he outshines every other player, and in fact his character, and what he does at the end, is the core of the plot. Back from Eternity might be classified as a B-Grade film, but for the fact that Rod Steiger is in it.