Screenwriter(s): Albert Husson (play) & Ranald MacDougall
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, & Aldo Ray
Genre(s): comedy/crime/romance
Premiere: July 7th, 1955
Run Time: 106 minutes
Producer(s): Pat Duggan
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
My Rating: ★★★★
Taglines: A strangler... A swindler... A safecracker... Yet you'll love them!
Movie Trailer:
Storyline: At Christmas, three prisoners - Joseph, Albert and Jules - escape from Devil Island to a French small coastal town. They decide to rob a store, to get some money and clothes and travel by ship to another place. They pretend to be there to fix the roof, but pretty soon they realize that the financial condition of the family Ducotel is not good. Andre Tochard, the selfish and mean owner of the establishment, exploits the family Ducotel. The three convicts spend Christmas night with the Ducotels and are so well treated by the family that they decide to help them. Their pet will help them to fix the situation.
My Review: Whenever I think of the great Humphrey Bogart movies I always put this one in my top three of favorites and almost everyone doesn't know which this is. Granted it's no Casablanca, Key Largo, The Maltese Falcon, or The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, but to me, it's his most honest and human role he's played. Take an escaped convict with a heart and you get the makings of a great feel good movie. This isn't one of the popular Christmas movies like White Christmas, but this is a movie that takes place during Christmas therefore it can and should be seen around this time of year at least once.
This has got everything you could be looking for if you want a lighter Bogart movie. Stellar acting from the entire cast mixed with comedy, drama, romance, and a side of murder. What more could you ask for?
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