Hell Is Sold Out
Despite the provocative title and a star-studded cast and crew, Hell Is Sold Out is a slight British dramedy which doesn’t succeed as drama or comedy. It features many talents who went on to great things, but this poor script doesn’t allow them to do it here, early in their careers.
Hell Is Sold Out is actually the name of a novel in the film, a novel erroneously sold under the name of French Resistance fighter Domenic Danges (Herbert Lom), presumed dead. Rescued from a German POW camp, he comes back to France to find “his” book a best seller and his “wife” (Mai Zetterling as Valerie Martin), the real author, living in his small mansion. For publicity purposes, this ruse must be kept up, but after Danges makes a caddish play for Valerie, she leaves in anger, preferring to write in the cubbyhole of Danges’ war comrade, the good natured Pierre (Richard Attenborough).
Because Herbert Lom’s name is first in the film credits, we know Valerie will return to him, but we don’t believe it. Lom’s Danges is sour, angry, depressed and altogether uninviting, and there’s no evidence presented why Valerie would pick him over the joyful, friendly Pierre, who also loves her. If you bother to watch this film, you’ll be scratching your head over the emotionally nonsensical last scene. Put bluntly, there’s nothing compelling or believable about this script; it’s slow and boring. Imagine, if you will, the same madcap set-up in the hands of Preston Sturges, Ernst Lubitsch or Leo McCarey.
A stereotypical group of American women, literary sponsors, are brought in for comedy relief — no use. The always nice to see Hermione Baddeley plays Danges’ agent; her assistant’s name is Cheri (Olaf Pooley, later of Doctor Who and Star Trek). It’s no help.
Herbert Lom is probably best known in the US for his role as the Chief Inspector in Blake Edwards’ Pink Panther movies. He’s funny in those. Mai Zetterling went on to become a controversial and cutting-edge film director in the ’70s. Michael Anderson directed The Dam Busters (1955), one of the biggest influences on Star Wars, Around the World in 80 Days (1956), and Logan’s Run (1976). Richard Attenborough (Lord Attenborough) had, of course, an amazing dual career of film acting and directing, appearing in films as diverse as Noel Coward’s In Which We Serve (1942), The Great Escape (1963) and Jurassic Park (1993), and directing A Bridge Too Far (1977), Ghandi (1982) and Chaplin (1992).
If you have nothing better to do on a rainy day, then by all means watch Hell Is Sold Out. Other diversions will probably entertain as well, though, if not better.
—Michael R. Neno, 2016 Jun 23
