''Walk Into Paradise'' (also known as ''Walk Into Hell'') is a 1956 French-Australian
international co-production
A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production companie ...
adventure film directed by
Lee Robinson and
Marcello Pagliero
Marcello Pagliero (15 January 1907 – 18 October 1980) was an Italian film director, actor, and screenwriter.
Pagliero was born in London and died in Paris. He is perhaps best known for his performance in the Roberto Rossellini film '' Rome, ...
and starring
Chips Rafferty
John William Pilbean Goffage MBE (26 March 190927 May 1971), known professionally as Chips Rafferty, was an Australian actor. Called "the living symbol of the typical Australian", Rafferty's career stretched from the late 1930s until his death ...
and
Françoise Christophe. It was shot on location in the highlands of Papua New Guinea.
Plot
In
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...
, Ned "Shark Eye" Kelly floats in town on a raft, suffering from malaria and heat. He has discovered oil in a valley. The local Australian District Officer, Fred, tells Kelly he cannot exploit the oil until the area has been officially "opened up".
In Port Moresby, another District Officer, Steve MacAllister, is about to go on eight months' leave when called in to help on the expedition, as he is the only person who knows the area. MacAllister has to help put in an airstrip so geologists can fly to the territory.
MacAllister has to take along United Nations doctor Louise Dumarcet on the expedition. He is unhappy about this, as it is Louise's first time in the tropics. However when there is a disease outbreak in a town, Louise helps treats some children.
The expedition arrives at a village and meet crocodile hunter Jeff Clayton. Kelley is reluctant to enter a village. He reveals his brother was killed by the locals. They decide to enter anyway. While treating a villager, Louise draws the patient's blood. This is seen by another villager who puts a snake in her bed. The snake bites Louise but she is treated by Jeff, who then kisses her.
The villagers rise up against the expedition and a fight ensues where Kelly is speared to death. However the children Louise was treating recover, ending the battle. The villagers help clear an air strip enabling a plane to land.
Cast
*
Chips Rafferty
John William Pilbean Goffage MBE (26 March 190927 May 1971), known professionally as Chips Rafferty, was an Australian actor. Called "the living symbol of the typical Australian", Rafferty's career stretched from the late 1930s until his death ...
as Steve MacAllister
*
Françoise Christophe as Dr. Louise Dumarcet
*
Reg Lye
Reginald Thomas Lye (14 October 1912 – 23 March 1988), was an Australian actor who worked extensively in Australia and England. He was one of the busiest Australian actors of the 1950s, appearing in the majority of locally shot features at th ...
as Ned 'Shark-eye' Kelley
*
Pierre Cressoy
Pierre Cressoy (born Pierre Jules Lazare Cresson; March 25, 1924 – October 31, 1980) was a French film actor.Davis p.196
Filmography
References
Bibliography
* Davis, Ronald L. ''Hollywood Beauty: Linda Darnell and the American Dream''. Un ...
as Jeff Clayton
*Sergeant Major Somu as Sgt.-Major Towalaka
*District Officer Fred Kaad as himself
*Capt. Richard Davis as himself
Development
Chips Rafferty and Lee Robinson had produced two earlier films starring Rafferty, ''The Phantom Stockman'' and ''King of the Coral Sea''. Their formula was to set the action in an exotic location and for this third movie they chose New Guinea, where Rafferty and Robinson had both served in World War Two.
In May 1954 Rafferty and Robinson returned to
Wewa from a location trip up the Sepik River. They announced they planned to film at Kambaramba, a village on the swamp lagoon, at the end of July with a cast and technical crew of 40. It would be the location of their next film. They were so enthused they planned to make several movies in New Guinea.
Filming was delayed. Richard Boone and Chips Rafferty became friends making ''
Kangaroo
Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern ...
'' together. In December 1954 Boone announced he would act in the film, then called ''The Head Hunters''. Filming on this project was also delayed reportedly due to poor weather.
French involvement
French producer Paul-Edmond Decharme, best known for ''Manon'' and ''Bluebeard'', proposed Rafferty and Robinson go into business with the French company Discifilm. The script was rewritten to accommodate two French stars.
In April 1955 Rafferty said the film would be called ''Walk into Paradise'' and that
Ann Vernon would play the female lead. Later that month Rafferty and Robinson issued a prospectus for investors to put money into the film, offering debentures at £50 each. They claimed ''The Phantom Stockman'' had repaid investors 27% and ''King of the Coral Sea'' had repaid them 10%.
In May 1955 Decharne announced he would make two films a year in the Pacific. The first two would be co productions with Rafferty and Robinson:, starting with''Walk into Paradise'', which would be shot on location in New Guinea, in English and French versions. The stars would be Rafferty, Reg Lye, and French players Pierre Cressoy and Francoise Christophe (Vernon having dropped out). Robinson would direct while Marcel Pagliero would be the dialogue director of the French version. The main party of the film unit will leave for New Guinea on 11 June. The voices-of the French stars will be used in both French and English versions. The voices of the Australian stars would be "dubbed" with French dialogue for the French version.
Music for ''Paradise'' would be written by Georges Auric, well-known composer of film music and the writer of the title track from ''Moulin Rouge''. The film would cost £150,000 and be financed on a 50/50 basis by Southern International and Decharme's company, Disci Films.
The second film would be made in Tahiti with French director Yves AHegret as the principal director and Robinson as director of the English version. This movie would be shot in Cinema-Scope and would hopefully star
Gerard Philippe.
"I was told that the Pacific was very wide, and its capital was Sydney* so I came here," said Decharne."I also heard that Australians appreciated French films better than any other country outside Europe. 'La Ronde' made more money in Australia than it did in France."
Robinson later claimed that 60% of the money invested in the film came from housewives.
The French actors arrived in Australia in June 1955.
Shooting
Shooting began in New Guinea in June 1955 and took place over twelve weeks. The unit was based out of Goroka.
Every scene was shot twice, once in French, once in English: Pagliero would direct the French version, Robinson would do the English.
Robinson got along well with Pagliero calling him "one of the most delightful guys you would ever meet in your life"
He says after the first few days of filming both "very quickly realised that you can only have one boss on the floor of the set." They decided that Pagliero would through the scenes with the French actors in the morning and when the Australian actors had to speak French Pagliero would "get all the dialogue done out on idiot boards for them."
Robinson said Pagliero "stood back from the film and worked with his actors a bit, helped the Australian actors with the French dialogue" but contributed more than Robinson originally thought because they would discuss scenes at night.
Robinson said he clashed with the Frenchman only once, during a scene involving the lowering of the Australian flag but "it was a national argument rather than a film argument. But he was terribly aware of the fact that confusion would arise if the two of us were trying to run the set."
Despite the difficulties of shooting on location, the film was infused only three days behind schedule.
The film was edited in Paris.
Release
The film was released in France as ''L'Odyssée du Capitaine Steve.'' A
novelisation
A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent ...
of the script by Gavin Casey was published in 1956. The film screened at the
1956 Cannes Film Festival. Director
Lee Robinson was nominated for the
Golden Palm
The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
Award
but was beaten by
Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (, also , ; 11 June 191025 June 1997) was a French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author. He co-invented the first successful Aqua-Lung, open-circuit SCUBA ( self-contained underwater breathing apparatus). T ...
and
Louis Malle
Louis Marie Malle (; 30 October 1932 – 23 November 1995) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. Described as "eclectic" and "a filmmaker difficult to pin down," Malle's filmogr ...
for ''
Le Monde du silence''.
American producer
Joseph E. Levine
Joseph Edward Levine (September 9, 1905 – July 31, 1987) was an American film distributor, financier and producer. At the time of his death, it was said he was involved in one or another capacity with 497 films. Levine was responsible for the ...
purchased the film for distribution and added more jungle footage. When the film did poor business he retitled it ''Walk Into Hell'', which increased its earnings dramatically. Robinson claimed at one stage the movie was one of the 100 top grossers in the US.
The ''Los Angeles Times'' called it "a fairly pleasant travelogue".
[Wild Land Setting of New Movie F L M. Los Angeles Times 6 December 1957: C11.]
References
External links
*
''Walk Into Paradise''at
Australian Screen Online
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national c ...
''Walk Into Paradise''at Oz Movies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walk Into Paradise
1956 films
1950s action adventure films
1950s multilingual films
Australian action adventure films
1950s English-language films
Films directed by Lee Robinson
Films directed by Marcello Pagliero
1950s French-language films
Films set in Papua New Guinea
Films shot in Papua New Guinea
French-Australian culture
French multilingual films
French action adventure films
1950s French films
1950s Australian films