Fire Down Below (1957 film)

Fire Down Below
Fire Down Below
	US cinema release poster
Directed by	Robert Parrish
Screenplay by	Irwin Shaw
Based on	Fire Down Below; 1954 novel; by Max Catto (as Simon Kent)
Produced by	Albert R. Broccoli; Irving Allen
Starring	Rita Hayworth; Robert Mitchum; Jack Lemmon
Cinematography	Desmond Dickinson
Edited by	Jack Slade
Music by	Arthur Benjamin; Douglas Gamley; Kenneth V. Jones
Color process	Technicolor
Production; company	Warwick Films
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	30 May 1957 (UK); 8 August 1957 (USA);
Running time	115 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom; United States
Language	English
Budget	$2.3 million
Box office	$2,050,000 (US only)

Fire Down Below is a 1957 adventure drama film with a screenplay written by novelist Irwin Shaw, starring Rita Hayworth, Robert Mitchum and Jack Lemmon, and directed by Robert Parrish. Based on Max Catto's 1954 novel with the same title, the picture was made by Warwick Films on location in Trinidad and Tobago, in Technicolor and CinemaScope, and released by Columbia Pictures.

Plot

After the Korean War, Americans Tony and Felix own a tramp boat, the Ruby, which they use for small-scale smuggling around the Caribbean, along with a third crewman, Jimmy Jean. One day their bartender contact, Miguel, introduces them to an American businessman who has been enjoying the company of beautiful but passport-less European goddess Irena. He has to return to Detroit, but wants to arrange for her to get to another island. They are reluctant, but $1,200 proves very tempting.

On the voyage, Tony starts falling in love with her. Knowing the kind of woman she is, Felix does his best to protect his partner by warning Irena to stay away from Tony. However, Felix starts falling for her himself. When she disembarks, Tony goes with her, ending his partnership with Felix.

Tony visits a drunk Felix and offers a final job together, but Felix rejects the offer, feeling hurt by his friend's abandonment, and warns that Irena will leave him. Though Jimmy brushes it off.

Tony and Jimmy Jean take on a shady job, but are intercepted by the authorities. They have to abandon ship and swim to a nearby island to avoid arrest. Tony takes a job on a cargo ship to get back to Irena. He also plans to kill Felix, correctly suspecting that his former partner tipped off the customs agents to get rid of the competition for Irena. However, while Tony is away, she goes to Felix and confesses that she loves him.

After a collision, Tony is trapped below deck under a girder, with time running out – the ship is aflame and carrying a highly explosive cargo. Doctor Sam Blake offers the only way out, by amputating Tony's trapped legs, but Tony would rather die. Felix goes aboard and stays with him. An explosion frees Tony from the wreckage, and Felix carries him to safety.

After Tony has recovered, he confronts Felix and Irena in a bar. It is there Tony realises that Irena loves Felix and not him, leaving him to walk away and cut his losses by saying, "Some days you win, some days you lose."

Cast

Rita Hayworth as Irena
Robert Mitchum as Felix Bowers
Jack Lemmon as Tony
Herbert Lom as Harbour Master
Bonar Colleano as Lt. Sellars
Bernard Lee as Sam Blake
Edric Connor as Jimmy Jean
Peter Illing as Captain of Ulysses
Joan Miller as Mrs. Canaday
Anthony Newley as Miguel
Eric Pohlmann as Hotel Owner
Lionel Murton as The American
Vivian Matalon as 1st U.S. Sailor
Gordon Tanner as 2nd U.S. Sailor
Maurice Kaufmann as 3rd U.S. Sailor
Murray Kash as Bartender
Maya Koumani as Waitress
Philip Baird as Young Man
Keith Banks as Drunken Young Man
"Stretch" Cox Troupe as the "Stretch" Cox Troupe (also as "Stretch" Cox and His Troupe)

Production

The film was Rita Hayworth's return to motion pictures after a four-year absence.^[2] The producer and part-owner of the production company Warwick Films, Albert R. Broccoli, later to become famous as the producer of the first 16 Eon-made James Bond films, makes a cameo appearance in the film as a drug smuggler.

Release

The film had a gala premiere in the attendance of Princess Alexandra of Kent at the Odeon Marble Arch in London on 30 May 1957,^[1] and went on general release in Britain the next day. It premiered in the USA two months later, on 8 August 1957.^[2]

Reception

Box office

The film needed to make $5,500,000 to break even, and by October 1957 was going to come in $750,000 short. This financial failure caused Warwick Films to scale back its production.^[3]

Soundtrack

The theme song, "Fire Down Below", was composed by Lester Lee, with lyrics by Ned Washington, and was sung by Jeri Southern.
All harmonica themes in this film were composed and played by Jack Lemmon.
The film's soundtrack score was conducted by Muir Mathieson with the Sinfonia of London.

References

^ ^a ^b "To-day's Arrangements: "Princess Alexandra attends ... the première of the film Fire Down Below in aid of the Greater London Fund for the Blind, Odeon Theatre, Marble Arch". The Times. 30 May 1957. p. 11.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Fire Down Below". dvdcompare.net. 8 July 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Warwick Shrinks Overhead and Sked". Variety. 23 October 1957. p. 4.
^ "Top Grosses of 1957". Variety. 8 January 1958. p. 30.

External links

Fire Down Below (1957) at IMDb
Fire Down Below at Rotten Tomatoes
Fire Down Below at AllMovie
Fire Down Below at the TCM Movie Database
Fire Down Below at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

[Times-1] "To-day's Arrangements: "Princess Alexandra attends ... the première of the film Fire Down Below in aid of the Greater London Fund for the Blind, Odeon Theatre, Marble Arch". The Times. 30 May 1957. p. 11.

[DVD-2] "Fire Down Below". dvdcompare.net. 8 July 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2023.

[war-3] "Warwick Shrinks Overhead and Sked". Variety. 23 October 1957. p. 4.

[4] "Top Grosses of 1957". Variety. 8 January 1958. p. 30.

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