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7/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 7/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. A Devil with Women remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you are a fan of Humphrey Bogart, you should probably see this once just to see where he started. It is not exactly a masterpiece, but it is a fun look at how movies used to handle 'adventure' back when sound was still pretty new.
Most people today might find it a bit dusty or slow. If you hate old movies where the acting feels like everyone is shouting at a wall, you will probably hate this one. 🌵
Victor McLaglen plays Maxton. He is basically a giant human tank who laughs at everything and hits people when he is bored.
He is a 'soldier of fortune,' which is just a fancy way of saying he fights for whoever pays him. He gets stuck in this fictional country and meets Tom, played by Bogart.
It is so weird seeing Bogart like this. He is playing the 'nephew' of a rich guy, and he looks like he hasn't slept in three days, but in a boyish way, not a tough-guy way. 👶
He doesn't have that famous gravel in his voice yet. He is almost... polite? It is deeply strange if you are used to Casablanca.
The two of them have this weird chemistry where they keep trying to out-macho each other. It reminds me a bit of the vibe in The Spanish Jade, but with more shouting.
They are supposed to be stopping a bandit named Morloff. Morloff is your typical movie bad guy from 1930 who hangs out in the hills and causes trouble.
But the movie spends way more time on the guys trying to flirt with Rosita. She is played by Mona Rico, and she mostly just has to look pretty while these two idiots argue over her.
There is one scene where they are sitting in a jail cell. They are literally facing a firing squad the next morning.
Instead of being scared, they are just making jokes about who Rosita likes better. It goes on a bit too long and makes the stakes feel kind of fake.
You can tell the director wanted us to think they were brave. Honestly, they just seem like they don't understand how guns work. 🔫
The sound in this movie is... crunchy. That is the only way I can describe it.
Whenever someone moves too fast, you can hear the microphones struggling to keep up. It adds a bit of charm, I guess, if you like that sort of thing.
It’s not as polished as something like Smilin' Through. It feels much more like a stage play that someone decided to film outdoors on a lunch break.
The sets are actually pretty decent though. The little town feels lived-in, even if the 'jungle' looks like it was made of plastic plants from a dentist's office.
I noticed that Victor McLaglen’s mustache seems to change shape in every other scene. Sometimes it is very neat, and other times it looks like a caterpillar is dying on his lip.
There is also a horse that looks incredibly bored during a chase scene. It is just trotting along while the music is going crazy trying to make it seem exciting.
The bandit, Morloff, has this one henchman who just stands in the background and stares. He never says anything, and I spent half the movie wondering if he was a real actor or just a very still extra.
It is these little bits that make me like these old movies. They aren't perfect, and you can see the seams everywhere.
The ending is very abrupt. Like, the movie just decides it is over and stops.
It doesn't have the emotional weight of Three Women, but it isn't trying to. It just wants to be a Saturday afternoon distraction.
I think Bogart fans will get a kick out of it. Everyone else might find it a bit of a slog unless you really like watching Victor McLaglen yell at things.
It’s a fine movie. Not great, not terrible, just a weird little time capsule of a time when Hollywood was still figuring out how to make people talk on screen. 🎬
Anyway, I'm glad I watched it, but I don't think I'll be revisiting it anytime soon. One time is enough to see 'Pre-Bogie' Bogie.
IMDb —
1917
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