Directed by: Andrew Marton
Starring: Gene Kelly, Pier Angeli
Distributed by: Warner Archive
Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 92 minutes
Our Score: 3 out of 5 stars
Gene Kelly is known best for his musicals but this film is one of his dramatic performances. The film itself has some problems and but honestly. I am a sucker for Kelly and this performance was great. The film was also shot on location which is breathtaking, especially some of the scenery in Germany. Pier Angeli is also amazing, such a beauty. Warner Archive scores again for finally releasing the remaining, unreleased Gene Kelly films from the Warner Bros. vaults. The other film recently released is “Black Hand”, read review here. Fans of Gene Kelly’s work will not want to miss this opportunity to finally own this film on DVD.
This newly restored DVD looks great for a film that has never before released and was made almost 60 years ago. “The Devil Makes Three” is presented in black and white in full frame and the original aspect ratio of 1.37:1. The audio track presented is mono and sounds great, especially with the film’s music scenes. The only special feature on this release is an original trailer, which is honestly better than nothing. Even though Warner Archive is known for just delivering such great quality on their DVDs. I have yet to be disappointed. Keep them coming guys!
Synopsis: Capt. Jeff Eliot (Gene Kelly) roams the tawdry dives of post-war Munich searching for a delicate young beauty named Wilhelmina (Pier Angeli), the only survivor of the family that hid him from the Nazis after his plane was shot down during the war. He wants to help her. She wants to use him to smuggle contraband into Austria. But what looks like a small-time black market scheme hides something far more sinister: a vicious, well-financed conspiracy to revive the Third Reich. Shot on location and boasting a skilled international cast, The Devil Makes Three features footage of motorcycles zooming along Hitler’s sleek Autobahn and competing in a thrilling race on a frozen lake, plus a climatic showdown filmed at the Führer’s mountain retreat near Berchtesgaden. Kelly is both virile action hero and shrewd detective “in a fine, restrained characterization” (Howard Thompson, The New York Times) that anchors the intrigue-laced plot.