Dante’s Inferno *** (1935, Spencer Tracy, Claire Trevor, Henry B Walthall, Alan Dinehart, Scotty Beckett) – Classic Movie Review 11,062

‘A Startling Drama of Today… and Forever! Timely as Today’s News… Eternal With its Challenging Truths!’

Director Harry Lachman’s 1935 drama Dante’s Inferno is one of Hollywood’s more bizarre efforts, in which Spencer Tracy stars as Jim Carter, the tough businessman and carnival boss who moves in on Pop McWade (Henry B Walthall)’s carnival concession that shows scenes from Dante’s Inferno and makes it a going concern, marrying Betty McWade (Claire Trevor).

Deception and treachery follow, and Carter has to pay for his evil deeds when he enters a special fairground attraction, his own private hell, full of wild visions and strange sights.

The hugely inventive, kitsch scenes of hell (designed by Willy Pogany) fire up a potentially mundane morality tale into a fascinating treat, and the film is also memorable for a notable Tracy performance. Claire Trevor further helps in a strong portrayal as his wife and a 17-year-old Hayworth (in already her fifth film) pops up for a devilish dance scene under her real name as Margarita Cansino.

Based on a story by Cyrus Wood, with a screenplay by Philip Klein and Robert M Yost, it has no connection with the 1924 film of this name. The sets are inspired by Gustav Doré’s drawings.

It is shot in black and white with red tinted sequences.

It was Tracy’s last film for the Fox studio. He had already been fired after refusing to play a support turn in the 1935 The Farmer Takes a Wife, in which he was initially cast as the villain but and was replaced by Charles Bickford.

Also in the cast are Alan Dinehart, Scotty Beckett, Astrid Allwyn, Ruthelma Stevens, Joe Brown, George Humbert, Robert Geckler, Maidel Turner, Nella Walker, Lita Chevret, Richard Tucker, Edward Pawley, Harry Woods, Morgan Wallace, Gary Leon, Ruth Clifford and Dorothy Dix.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,062

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