South of Suez (1940)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Lewis Seiler

Writers:

Sheridan Gibney (story)
Barry Trivers (screenplay)

Release Date:

16 November 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Drama

Tagline:

Where He Finds ADVENTURE You'll Find Thrills!

Plot:

Greedy diamond mine owner Eli Snedeker, resentful that his ex-foreman John Gamble stopped him from taking over kindly...

Plot Keywords:

Diamond | Diamond Mine | Corpse | Jeweler | Scotland Yard

Cast

George Brent	...	John Gamble, aka John Bradley
Brenda Marshall	...	Katharine 'Kit' Sheffield
George Tobias	...	Eli Snedeker
James Stephenson	...	Inspector Thornton
Lee Patrick	...	Delia Snedeker
Eric Blore	...	Harold 'Limey' Wemsley
Miles Mander	...	Roger Smythe
Cecil Kellaway	...	Henry Putnam
Mary Forbes	...	Mrs. Putnam
Gilbert Emery	...	Manders, Cairo embassy official
Stanley Logan	...	Prosecutor
Frederick Worlock	...	Defense counsel
Edward Fielding	...	Judge
Leonard Mudie	...	Registrar
Crauford Kent	...	Sedley

Also Known As:

A sud di Suez (Italy) [it]
Al sur de Suez (Venezuela) [es]
Söder om Suez (Sweden) [sv]
Suezista etelään (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #6638)

Filming Locations:

Randsburg, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Two cast members in studio records/casting call lists did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie. These were (with their character names): Charles C. Wilson (Guard) and Frank Hagney (Miner). In addition Abner Biberman was listed as a cast member in copyright records, but he wasn't seen in the movie either.

Soundtrack:

A Life on the Ocean Wave

Passable programmer is better than average B-film...

GEORGE BRENT was never more stoic in giving a wooden performance than he is in this programmer in which he and BRENDA MARSHALL have almost no chemistry together. Marshall is a strictly by-the-numbers sort of actress with severe limitations and never made it to full-fledged stardom. See her in this one and you'll understand why.

Surprisingly, the most vivid performance in the film is given by LEE PATRICK as the wife of greedy gold-miner owner (GEORGE TOBIAS) who sets Brent up for the murder of a fellow miner who discovered a diamond Tobias covets. Her courtroom scene toward the end gives her a chance to emote in Ida Lupino style. Only eight years later she would be one of the almost unrecognizable inmates of THE SNAKE PIT.

All of the sets look like leftovers from THE LETTER which took place on a rubber plantation. Still, for all its faults, this little programmer delivers some interesting melodramatic moments.

And a scene-stealing monkey supplies some much needed humorous moments.