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| Henry B. Walthall is the moral center of the film; in the film, his character loves Dante's Inferno and creates a museum exhibit devoted to it. |
Spencer Tracy, in a swell performance, plays a man who learns some important lessons in life from Dante's The Divine Comedy: INFERNO. The film is known for a 10-minute sequence showing a visual interpretation of hell, including people burning at the stake, falling off cliffs into a river of fire, and more. It's all in glorious black-and-white; combined with the haunting musical score, it's a very impressive and thrilling sequence worthy of an Oscar for Visual Effects - they are really impressive. Here's a video clip of the Hell sequence.
More on the film (some spoilers): The film begins with images of fire and smoke. Then the camera slowly pans out and we realize we are looking at burning coal. Tracy plays a sailor assigned to the boiler room on a luxury cruise liner. Some hoity-toity socialites look down at the men and start laughing. Carter looks up to a snickering woman and thinks to himself, "sister, one day I'm going to be up there laughing".
He soon gets fired, and finds work in a carnival sideshow tent. He soon gets fired again, and is almost arrested when he is sitting at a beverage stand and cannot pay for his drink. A kindly old man (Henry B. Walthall, who was also in Birth of a Nation and Judge Priest) offers to pay for the drink. Carter is impressed and takes a liking to him, discovering that the old man (or "pop" as he's called) runs his own sideshow at the fair, which is sort of a run-down museum called "Dante's Inferno". Pop gives Carter a tour of the exhibit which features well known historical figures whose lives were doomed: Alexander the great, Cleopatra, etc. Carter likes the museum but notices no one is buying tickets. With a gift of gab, Carter steps up and "sells hell" (he says, "if there's one thing I know something about, it's hell!").
After assuming the role as master showman, the museum exhibit becomes a hit. He also falls in love with Claire Trevor, who plays Pop's daughter and employee of the exhibit. She and carter soon get married and have a baby. Then Carter expands the museum into a much bigger attraction with a live theatrical show, rides, and more. In one interesting sequence, someone tries to commits suicide in the exhibit by jumping off a ledge and everyone thinks it's part of the show; it then becomes an even bigger hit. In a montage sequence we learn that Carter builds an empire out of amusement parks all over the world. The adorable child actor who plays Carter's son is played by Scotty Beckett (1929-1968).
One day an inspector comes to warn Carter that the exhibit is not stable and is in a dangerous condition; Carter bribes the inspector to keep quiet about it. Soon the entire structure falls apart and Pop is injured. (The inspector commits suicide.)
Pop wakes up in a hospital room and asks for his favorite poem: Dante's Inferno. He shows it to Carter - this is when the 10-minute sequence of hell begins. Carter is warned, but when he and his wife are called to testify in court, both of them lie - Carter to save himself, and his wife to save their child.
The couple separates for awhile, and in the grand finale, Carter attends the maiden voyage of his luxury cruise, which becomes a disaster: the guests all get drunk, the substitute boiler room workers become drunk and rowdy, and Carter's little boy finds his way on the ship. A fire is started and soon spreads throughout the ship. The climax is a thrilling fight for survival, and Carter is back in the boiler room trying to save the ship.
In the end he is reunited with Claire Trevor. Carter, now a business failure, says to his wife, "all I have to offer you is my love". She says, "that's all I ever wanted".
I highly recommend this film, but it is difficult to find. This film is not available on DVD yet but I hope one day it is. I saw it at a revival house on a couple of occasions.
Directed by Harry Lachman.
Here are a few other reviews of the film:
