LIVE: Backdoor to Hell (1964)

 

                A trio lands on a beach on Luzon in the Philippines in 1944  /  They move through the jungle to reach a hut  /  Craig (pop singer Jimmy Rodgers) doesn’t take the shot!  /  jungle sounds  /  they hook up with Paco and his mix-gendered guerrilla band  /  mission:  see if the Japanese are setting a trap for the invasion  /  Paco is a hard-ass and not an American puppet -  interesting character and a much better actor than Rodgers (but he probably does not sing as well)  /  crossing a river by rope  /  they reach a village  /  Packo’s wife and kid were killed by American mortar fire  /  Japanese threaten to execute kids if they aren’t turned in – shot of adorable kids  /  “Combat!” type music featuring bongos /  kids sing an adorable song as the guerrillas sneak into a village  /  small battle, nothing special, no blood  /  Paco has a plain girlfriend  /  Burnett (Jack Nicholson!) and Jersey (John Hackett!) are BFFs, they have a philosophical discussion of killing humans in war  /  torture scene -  something involving fingers  /  Craig woodenly takes umbrage about the killing of prisoners   /  meet up with scene-chewing “pirate” rebel named Raymundo – he sabotages the radio – why?  because he’s a dick?  /  they go to a Japanese signaling station  /  Craig is able to stab a guard so he’s over that incident that where he couldn’t take the shot – thank goodness  /  blood splatter from neck slash!  /  no real problem getting to radio  -  actually it’s a telegraph  /  discovered and pinned down  /  Burnett is killed by a bullet that leaves no hole  - the rest get out with no difficulty;  one-third death rate for this commando raid- a little low for the subgenre  /  footage of American invasion  /  the end

ANALYSIS:  “Backdoor to Hell” is a low budget black and white B-movie.  Nicholson was friends with Hackett and director Monte Hellman and the trio wrote the screenplay on the ship on the way to the Philippines where the film was shot on location.  The Philippine military cooperated.  Rodgers was recruited as the star because he was a popular singer and he co-financed the movie.  He had a #1 hit with “Honeycomb” in 1957 and also sang “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine”.  He was a good singer, but terrible actor.  Nicholson really does not evidence future stardom here.  Surprisingly, the standout is Conrad Maga as Paco.  It was his only movie.  The film could have uses a sexy Filipino guerrilla babe.  Kudos to the casting director for casting against type?   The plot seems like it was written on a ship.  The mission is boring and there is little suspense.  The combat is average for a movie like this.  The dialogue is just blah, not embarrassing.  The movie is not a cult classic.  It’s just a bad movie, but at least it’s only one hour and fifteen minutes.

GRADE =  D