Safe in Hell

Plot synopsis:
Gilda Karlson (Dorothy Mackaill) is a New Orleans prostitute. She is accused of murdering Piet Van Saal (Ralf Harolde), the man responsible for ending her life as a secretary and leading her into prostitution. Her old boyfriend, sailor Carl Erickson (Donald Cook), smuggles her to safety on Tortuga, an island in the Caribbean from which she cannot be extradited. On the island, Gilda and Carl get "married" without a clergyman to officiate, and she swears to be faithful to him. After Carl leaves on his ship, Gilda finds herself to be the only white woman in a hotel full of international criminals, all of whom try to seduce her. Especially persistent is Bruno (Morgan Wallace), the island's executioner, who steals the money that Carl sends her, with the hope that she will think that Carl has abandoned her.
Van Saal arrives on the island, having ditched his wife, on the lam with the life insurance money he collected after his "death". Bruno gives Gilda a gun to protect herself. When Van Saal attacks her, she kills him. She is put on trial and is about to be acquitted by a sympathetic jury, when Bruno tells her that he will have her arrested for possessing an illegal firearm unless she has sex with him. To foil Bruno's trap, Gilda gives a false confession at her trial, preferring to die rather than to break her vow to Carl. She is convicted and sent to the gallows.

Tags: murder

Review:
Although this film directed by the versatile William Wellman is not essentially different from many other fallen women pictures of the early talkie era, it has elements that lift it out of the ordinary.
I saw this for the first time a few years ago in a festival of pre-Code films, and it was a revelation--Dorothy Mackaill was new to me and she is excellent as the "loose woman" who finds a very strange salvation on a Caribbean island that is a stand-in for hell, if not in fact the real thing.
Also unusual for a film of that time is the respectful treatment of Black characters--there is a very nice camaraderie between Dorothy and the woman who works at the hotel..
The story is a bout a woman accused of a murder in New Orleans, who is helped by her sailor boyfriend to an island in the Caribbean.
Wellman and cinematographer Sid Hickox stage many of the scenes in chiaroscuro darkness, and even the opening title — in which the words "SAFE IN HELL" appear as cutouts in a black field with fire billowing forth from behind the letters — is visually stunning and sets the mood for the film instead of merely announcing what it's called.
(The title and the director's name — in small print on the same card — are the only credits we see at the outset; the other credits are relegated to the end, in the fashion that's now become standard but was highly unusual in 1931.) The script requires the actors, Mackaill and Cook in particular, to make some pretty abrupt hairpin turns in emotions and motivations, but it's a testament to their skill (especially Mackaill's — Cook's is a pretty straightforward good-guy lead and his only spectacular sequence is the early one in which his loathing suddenly turns into desperate protectiveness and love when she's about to be arrested) that all the emotional turns are quite credible and she's equally believable as a bad girl and a good one.
Like Charles Vidor's "Sensation Hunters", made for Monogram two years later and the closest film I could think of to the mood of this one, "Safe in Hell" manages to convey the oppressiveness of the environment and the desperation with which the heroine is faced in trying to maintain (what's left of) her virtue in the face of the economic and sexual pressures on her.It also features two remarkable characters, the Black proprietess of the hotel on Tortuga where most of the action takes place (Nina Mae McKinney, the femme fatale of "Hallelujah!" here cast as a positive character) and her assistant, Newcastle (Clarence Muse).
(Score one for William Wellman for allowing them to get away with that!) McKinney also gets to warble the song "When It's Sleepy Time Down South," ostensibly to a recording — no doubt the song got in the film because her Black co-star Muse co-wrote it with Leon and Otis René!
Originally released with an advisory that the film was "Not for Children" (anticipating the Hollywood rating system that would ultimately displace the Production Code), "Safe in Hell" is a great movie, a forgotten gem that deserves to be better known than it is and an example of the Hollywood studio system working on all cylinders and producing something that acknowledged the clichés and yet also defied them quite movingly.
Why Warner Home Video didn't include this on the boxed set of Wellman's pre-Code films for Warners — when it's a better movie than any of the ones they DID include — is beyond me..
When you watch it,you will agree that the title was thoroughly justified.It was hard to be a hero (or a heroine ) in Wellman's brilliant movies of the thirties:from the wild boys of the street to Lilly Turner ,they all got a raw deal.Gilda leaves a macho world to wind up in another macho world even more awful than the one she left behind.The movie is short (about 70 minutes) and there are only two "happy" scenes in the whole story: the "wedding" ,a peak of romanticism and restrained emotion,and the short moment when the lovers meet again ,a scene very Borzagesque (there's a similar scene in "street angel" when Janet Gaynor asks the cop for one hour to say goodbye to the one she loves).As for the rest ,it's a ruthless depiction of hateful males who only know one rule:theirs.The arrival of Gilda in this seedy place could only be filmed in the pre -code Hayes days: those men salivate like Pavlov's dogs ,getting an eyeful as Gilda comes up the stairs.Like Tom in "heroes for sale" ,Gilda wants to keep her promise ;like him she gave everything;Tom hits the road and becomes a tramp ;Gilda's fate will be more terrible than his.Another unusual melodrama by one of the past masters of the American cinema of the thirties/forties..
Safe In Hell is is a cross between Sadie Thompson and The Getaway, with Dorothy Mackaill in stunning form as the 'bad girl' who runs away to a remote Caribbean island to escape her past.
Director William Wellman delivers another quality picture, and we get to see Nina Mae McKinney's star power on display (including one hot jazz number!).
DOROTHY MACKAILL is a name unknown by today's moviegoers but she was a pretty good actress judging by her work as a prostitute on the lam in SAFE IN HELL.
It's the kind of tough gal role that would have suited someone like Barbara Stanwyck, but Mackaill is a pretty blonde who nails her character completely.After giving her ex-lover rough treatment and thinking he's dead after his apartment catches fire, she's advised to flee to a tropical island where there's no extradition to the United States for criminals.
What she discovers is that the island is a living hell and all of its inhabitants are fugitives from the law.There's such a ring of familiarity about the whole story that I can swear it must have been remade years later, perhaps for an Ann Sheridan movie or a vehicle for Jean Harlow.
I'll have to check it out, but I'm sure I've seen this whole story before in a later version.For pre-code fans, this is a "must see." All of the situations are racy enough to send the censors reeling and some of the dialog is crisp and believable in a way that most films of the '30s never achieve.About as downbeat as any film about sinners, it's directed in forthright fashion by William A.
Wellman, with some decidedly unpleasant looking men cast in supporting roles as island outcasts.
Worth a watch for the performances of Dorothy Mackaill and Nina Mae McKinney in the only femme roles.Only other recognizable cast member for me was IVAN SIMPSON, who had a brief scene in THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD where he played the proprietor of Kent Road Tavern who admits Maid Marian so that she can inform Robin's men about his capture..
William Wellman makes the most of pre code freedom in the dark and cynical Safe in Hell.
With an on the run hooker in the lead hiding out on a rogues island with a disreputable bunch of sex starved thieves and wheeler dealers Wellman serves up ample helpings of society's underbelly with some effective and subversive pokes at society in general.New Orleans "escort" Gilda has to blow town fast after possibly committing murder and burning down an apartment building.
Found innocent of murder she must nevertheless do some time on the weapons charge thus delivering her into the grimy paws of the hangman.Nearly all the white male characters in Safe in Hell are low lifes of the first order.
With a telling sense of irony Wellman provocatively juxtaposes their loutishness with the films only refined respectful well spoken character, a black porter (Clarence Muse) as well as infer miscegenation with the inn keeper (Nina Mae McKinney) who dazzles the boys with a touch of Bessie Smith.Dorothy Mackaill plays Gilda with a glamor less tragic resignation as well as most of the hard boiled molls permeating early sound poverty row films.
Dorothy MacKaill(Gilda Carlson),"Bulldog Drummond at Bay",'37, played a great role and was very sexy and teased all her gentlemen admires in her hotel on a island with horny old men!
Safe in Hell (1931)You might think this would be routine Hollywood, directed by the mainstream director William Wellman.
But it shows her talent, and the missed opportunity to use it better.The movie is fast and if the characters are bit caricatured, it does have a "pre-code" feel and a worthwhile zip.
Safe in Hell (1931) *** (out of 4) Warner Pre-Code from director William A.
Wellman about a prostitute (Dorothy Mackaill) who kills a former lover and then takes off with her current lover (Donald Cook).
Basically "Safe in Hell" is a movie about a woman whose life has gone wrong and keeps going from bad to worse.
Dorothy Mackaill plays a prostitute who kills the man responsible for her troubles.
These three points show the mind set of the time when women were chastised for having premarital sex and punished emotionally and socially for their loose morals.That's why this precode film depicts how Dorothy Mackaill's character is stuck between a hard rock and a sword as she tries to keep a low profile while she waits for her sailor and hopes for a better future.
Safe in Hell uses inventive camera movement to convey character and mood, interesting subtle detail from the supporting actors and a quickly moving, intricate story with a few surprise twists -- Dorothy Mackail does a superb job at portraying Gilda, and doesn't fall into a lot of melodrama I know it's pre-code, but it's one of the frankest pre-codes I can think of...
Nina Mae McKinney and Dorothy MacKail the only reason to see this movie!.
Nina Mae's character Leonie as the clerk at the Hotel brightens the movie and Dorothy MacKail's character.
There's a scene when Dorothy MacKail hugs Nina, I think that's the first time in movie history a black and white person embrace.
Nina Mae embraces quit a bit with the white stars...only in pre code era could that be done.
Black actress Nina Mae McKinney has a plum role for a black actress in an era when there were precious few to be had.This is a Pre-Code curiosity which is somewhat tame by today's standards but still worth a watch, since it is a one-of-a-kind sort of tabloid story, surreal and sensational.
Once again a 'bad' girl, who isn't really bad, but was made so by the circumstances, wants to go straight, leave her past behind her, and begin a new life with her sailor boyfriend - but fate turns against her: the guy who'd made her 'bad' (i.e. a prostitute) in the first place turns up, pestering her again (pre-Code movie experts will recognize his 'mug' immediately: Ralf Harolde, who played 'Slick Wiley' in "I'm No Angel"), and she strikes him down and runs away from his hotel, unintentionally setting the place on fire, and the guy burns to death, and Gilda is searched for manslaughter...When her boyfriend Carl comes home, she admits everything to him, and he forgives her, and takes her to a remote Caribbean island which is outside the reach of Amerian jurisdiction; but there he's got to leave her on her own again - amidst a whole 'pack of wolves', all refugees from US justice as well, and they all start going after her at once.
But since she's made a promise to Carl, she resists them all; and, strangely enough, by that gains the respect and sympathy of all of them - except for the cruel and lustful 'Chief Judge', who makes his OWN laws on 'his' island...Dorothy MacKaill delivers an absolutely FANTASTIC performance as the immensely courageous 'good bad girl' (and one REALLY wonders why she didn't become a major star, considering her talent and her looks!) - one which can perhaps only be compared to Susan Hayward's in "I Want to Live!".
Plot-- A prostitute thinks she killed her cunning corrupter and flees to a Caribbean island to escape extradition, but not before marrying her departing sailor true love.
A good example of the "south sea exotic films", which were all clearly filmed on the back lot, but have the appearance and feeling of life far away on an island.
And she had to be on her toes because every time Nina Mae McKinney is on screen as the hotel clerk she nearly steals the movie.
Here's where the movie gets really weird and leads to an ending that defies belief.Seamy Pre-Coder from William Wellman is certainly interesting, I'll give it that.
If you enjoy Pre-Code films you'll definitely want to check this one out..
Nina Mae McKinney and Clarence Muse give rare non-stereotypical performances of the era in Safe in Hell.
The story itself, about a New Orleans prostitute who gets smuggled to an uncharted island after killing the man responsible for her situation, was quite compelling especially when she encounters both Nina and Clarence there as possibly the only people who seemed concerned for her well-being.
Director William Wellman moved from silent pictures to talkies with considerable skill, and he handles the sordid goings-on here with aplomb, aided no doubt by saucy Dorothy Mackaill as his leading lady.
The Other Sweaty, Ugly, and Lecherous Dregs Pant and Drool at the Sight of "The only white woman on the Island.", Relentlessly.This All becomes a Bit Much with the Constant Tongue Wagging and Cigarette Lighting, but the Movie is Undoubtedly an Unattractive, Lurid Display of the Trashy Pulp Stories, so Popular Among the Masses.It Should be Pointed Out that the Two African Americans here are Without Stereotype and are In Fact, the Most Likable Characters in the Movie and there is a Jazzy Song Sung by Nina Mae McKinney "Sleepy Time Down South" as She Serves Champagne and Bends Over with Each Glass to Reveal Her Charms (other than singing).Pre-Coders are Drawn to This One Like Moths to a Flame and Analyzed it to Death, and it does have a lot of Sweaty Sleaze and Symbolic Sexuality as well as Overt Sexuality and there is an Attraction here that is Undeniable.
I liked Dorothy Mackaill in this film; her acting feels natural and her character is feisty when fending off the unwanted advances of men.
Her old boyfriend (Donald Cook) turns up at the right time, and the two of them flee for a Caribbean island known for its lack of extradition laws.
There are far more enjoyable pre-code films, even if one constrains oneself to those directed by William A.
Frankly, the highlight of the movie was the African-American characters of Nina Mae McKinney and Clarence Muse, who play the innkeeper and porter.
An amazing story of a hooker played by Dorothy Mackaill who is sucked into "the life" by one of the most vicious, but underrated movie villains ever on screen.
Her line to El Jefe is something like: "The only time you will touch me is when you put the noose around my neck." I've seen lots of pre-code movies.
***SPOILERS*** No holds barred and uncompromising, in not resorting to a phony feel good ending, movie about an ex-hooker on the run from the law ending up in a place far worse then any US prison: The Caribbean island of Tortuga knows as "Hell Island" that has no extradition treaty with the United States.
Since being there is like being in hell itself!Going to a New Orleans hotel room to entertain a customer, or John, Gilda Carlson, Dorothy Mackaill,is shocked to find out that the person she's to entertain is her former boyfriend Piet Van Sall, Ralf Harolde, who forced by, getting Gilda fired from her job, her into the white slavery, prostitution, business in the first place!
It's in fact the island's "Minister of Justice" as well as the local hangman Bruno, Morgan Wallace, who really gets turned on to Gilda and unlike the local male inhabitants of Tortuga he has both the means and the ways to make his dream, in making Gilda his woman, come true!***SPOILERS*** Things soon turn in Gilda' favor when she runs into another fugitive from justice Piet Van Saal no less whom she thorough she killed in that hotel fire back in New Orleans!
Setting Gilda up to kill, for a second time, Piet Bruno provides her with a firearm that's illegal for anyone but law enforcement personnel on the island.
"Safe in Hell" is by far the darkest, most risqué film of its time period that I have yet seen.
She is housed as the only white woman on the island, in a dive filled with real scum of the earth men.After she goes crazy with boredom, awaiting the return of her boyfriend, the "murdered" man shows up and puts moves on her and she really kills him with a gun planted on her by the sheriff.
She then falsely confesses to the new killing in order to avoid that fate and, after leaving a love message to her boyfriend, marches off to be hanged.That Wellman believed that his audience would find such a story and plight acceptable is real indictment of the audience and the times..
After falling into the prostitution racket, she accidentally kills the man who was partially responsible for her line of work in the first place (or so she thinks).Her sailor boyfriend smuggles her onto an island with a bunch of weirdos to avoid arrest.
It also helps that the two black actors, Noble Johnson and Nina Mae Mckinney, aren't total stereotypes, which is remarkable for a film of this age.So don't be fooled by the seemingly endless "sitting around on an island" scenes.
This is an early talkie from William Wellman who went on to make some excellent movies like Battleground.
Dorothy Mackaill is a prostitute and she appears to accidentally kill a man!