When you hook up with a Cecil B. DeMille movie, you can usually count on it being big, splashy, historically-inaccurate, gaudy, strange, and tremendous fun. Four Frightened People, however, was not the usual Cecil B. movie. It wasn't big. The usual cast of thousands is missing, most of the screen time showing only the five principal players with infrequent intrusions of a few dozen menacing South Sea natives. It is actually one of his smaller pictures. And it isn't very splashy, unless you count Claudette Colbert's gorgeous body nude under a waterfall. Okay, that's splashy enough to satisfy most men, yours truly included. Historical inaccuracy is not a factor, since this is one of his few movies set in modern times. Gaudy? Well, the leopard skin outfits could qualify in a minor way. Strange? Oh yes, it's still a Cecil B. DeMille movie. Fun? One of the master of big screen entertainment's most fun movies!
The plot: four civilized people castaway on a primitive coast gradually reverting to the primitive state before they can get back to civilization. DeMille had previously explored this theme with Male and Female, a 1919 silent. But whereas Male and Female was a more-or-less serious examination of the subject, Four Frightened People plays mostly for laughs. And there are lots of them. This must be Cecil B.'s funniest movie.
The plot is not particularly important anyway. This is one of those movies where you gather together a talented cast of players and let them do what they do best. Stunningly beautiful Claudette Colbert, classy Herbert Marshall, madcap Mary Boland, he-man William Gargan, and funny, exotic Leo Carrillo were at the top of their considerable powers in this one. It's a delight to watch them!
What you can always count on from Cecil B. DeMille -- top-flight entertainment.
The plot: four civilized people castaway on a primitive coast gradually reverting to the primitive state before they can get back to civilization. DeMille had previously explored this theme with Male and Female, a 1919 silent. But whereas Male and Female was a more-or-less serious examination of the subject, Four Frightened People plays mostly for laughs. And there are lots of them. This must be Cecil B.'s funniest movie.
The plot is not particularly important anyway. This is one of those movies where you gather together a talented cast of players and let them do what they do best. Stunningly beautiful Claudette Colbert, classy Herbert Marshall, madcap Mary Boland, he-man William Gargan, and funny, exotic Leo Carrillo were at the top of their considerable powers in this one. It's a delight to watch them!
What you can always count on from Cecil B. DeMille -- top-flight entertainment.