Beat the Devil

1935 / NR / 89 min

A motley crew of swindlers and ne'er-do-wells try to lay claim to uranium rich land in Kenya as they wait in a small Italian port while aboard an ill-fated ship to Mombasa. Cast includes Humphrey Bogart, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lorre and Bernard Lee. Directed by John Huston and starring Bogart with a screenplay co-authored by Huston and Truman Capote, Beat the Devil was crafted by Huston as a spoof on his earlier masterpiece, The Maltese Falcon and other films of the genre. While not a commercial success on release (although it was to become a National Board of Review winner), the film defined the genre of spoof spy movies.