Back from Eternity *** (1956, Robert Ryan, Anita Ekberg, Rod Steiger) – Classic Movie Review 7846

The 1956 black and white adventure thriller Back from Eternity tells a familiar tale but is actually a bigger budget remake by producer-director John Farrow of his admired 1939 hit Five Came Back, which starred Chester Morris and Lucille Ball. Desperately, and blatantly, they decided to sell it on Anita Ekberg’s sex appeal: ‘Ooh That Ekberg!;

It is another outing for Richard Carroll’s old story about the plane that crashes into the South American jungle and can only get home safely with five passengers, with the rest left to the mercy of savage cannibal headhunters.

Some of the performances are much improved this time, particularly the male ones, thanks mainly to expert tough guys Rod Steiger (as a murderer called Vasquel) and Robert Ryan (as the pilot named Bill Lonagan). Farrow shows more confidence in the direction and there is an effective Franz Waxman score, though the pace is slacker and the story seems stretched and over-extended. It runs 97 minutes, instead of the originals runs 75 minutes. Jonathan Latimer scripts.

Also in the cast are Anita Ekberg, Phyllis Kirk, Gene Barry, Keith Andes, Beulah Bondi, Fred Clark, Cameron Prud’homme, Jesse White, Adele Mara and Jon Provost.

Back From Eternity is directed by John Farrow, runs 97 minutes, is made by John Farrow Productions, is released by RKO, is written by Jonathan Latimer, is shot in black and white by William Mellor, is produced by John Farrow, and is scored by Franz Waxman.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7846

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