Dante's Inferno (film)

Infobox Film
name = Dante's Inferno


image_size =
caption =
director = Harry Lachman
producer = Sol M. Wurtzel
writer = Philip Klein
starring = Spencer Tracy
Claire Trevor
Rita Hayworth
music =
cinematography = Rudolph Maté
editing = Alfred DeGaetano
distributor = 20th Century Fox
released = flagicon|US July 31, 1935 (New York City, New York)
August 30 (wide)
flagicon|Finland November 3
flagicon|Denmark November 15
runtime = 88 min.
country = USA
language = English
budget = $748,900 (estimate)
followed_by =
amg_id = 1:88648
imdb_id = 0026262

"Dante's Inferno" is a 1935 motion picture loosely based on Dante Alighieri's "The Divine Comedy". It is primarily remembered for a 10-minute depiction of hell realised by director Harry Lachman, himself an established post-impressionist painter.

Production

Rita Hayworth appears as a dancer under the credit "Rita Cansino".

Cultural impact

The film uses a conventional story of greed and dishonesty to project an image of the "Inferno" conjured up in Dante's 14th century epic poem. Director Lachman had established a substantial reputation as a painter before embarking on a Hollywood career and he summoned his artistic vision to realise Dante's work in cinematographic form, drawing on the engravings of Gustave Doré.

The film's reputation pivots on the 10 minute vision of the Inferno and reception has been mixed. Leslie Halliwell described it as "one of the most unexpected, imaginative and striking pieces of cinema in Hollywood's history," while "Variety" held that it was, "a pushover for vigorous exploitation."

As of this date (08/30/2008) the film is interesting for another reason. Except for a reference in a line of dialog in the 1938 film Boy Meets Girl, the conclusion of this movie (made in 1935) was the only time that a filmed scene was suggested in the burning of the
SS Morro Castle (which occurred in 1934). The model used for the gambling cruise ship looks identical to the Morro Castle.

Plot summary

Jim Carter (Tracy) takes over a fairground show illustrating scenes from Dante. An inspector declares the fair unsafe but is bribed by Carter. There is a fatal disaster at the fair during which we see the vision of the Inferno. Carter establishes a new venture with an unsafe floating casino.