Hellman's second official film is a marked improvement on the first, though still too rough-and-ready to be rated a complete success. Apart from the bigger scope offered him by the plot (various passengers on an airliner which crash-lands in the jungle are after a cache' of diamonds) and setting (this was shot on location in the Philippines), the director yielded another ace with the casting of Jack Nicholson (who even supplied the screenplay himself!) as a smooth villain.
In comparison to his work thus far, the latter's performance here is a revelation and even his dialogue is not half-bad (particularly the philosophical discussion about death he engages in on the plane with the director's own partner at the time, Jaclyn Hellman). The rest of the cast includes dour hero Dewey Martin, femme fatale-ish leading lady Fay Spain (rendered blonde here) and the latter's domineering mobster boss (at one point, he sends his lackey after her when the heroine visits the cock-pit, snapping "we're on a plane - where did you think I'd go?" upon returning to her seat!), who comes across effectively as an Oriental version of Peter Lorre.
Complicating things further, not long after hitting the ground, the survivors are kidnapped by a rebel army - but they manage to turn the tables and escape. It is here, however, that Nicholson's self-preserving instincts come to the fore and Martin can understand the reason for his previous ingratiating nature (Hellman kept the audience one up on him by having already shown the former commit a necktie murder in a hotel-room!). The climax, then, resolves itself in a rather protracted showdown between the two - Spain and the injured hoodlum having been eliminated beforehand - conducted within caves (incidentally, these had also housed a local nightclub!) and ending by a stream (where Nicholson lets go of the diamonds before expiring himself)with the words "The End" amusingly superimposed on a throwaway shot of the latter's shoes! Incidentally, the ironic final resting place here of the much sought-after jewels was later reprised for the Malta-shot desert adventure A TWIST OF SAND (1968; which I have watched only last month).
Once again, the film (shot concurrently with another effort by the same director and star, namely the war actioner BACK DOOR TO HELL {1964} - whose own viewing will follow presently) underwent additional shooting to stretch the running-time from the original 62 minutes to the current 73 (at least as per the copy I watched, since other sources claim this revamped version to be 80 minutes long).
In comparison to his work thus far, the latter's performance here is a revelation and even his dialogue is not half-bad (particularly the philosophical discussion about death he engages in on the plane with the director's own partner at the time, Jaclyn Hellman). The rest of the cast includes dour hero Dewey Martin, femme fatale-ish leading lady Fay Spain (rendered blonde here) and the latter's domineering mobster boss (at one point, he sends his lackey after her when the heroine visits the cock-pit, snapping "we're on a plane - where did you think I'd go?" upon returning to her seat!), who comes across effectively as an Oriental version of Peter Lorre.
Complicating things further, not long after hitting the ground, the survivors are kidnapped by a rebel army - but they manage to turn the tables and escape. It is here, however, that Nicholson's self-preserving instincts come to the fore and Martin can understand the reason for his previous ingratiating nature (Hellman kept the audience one up on him by having already shown the former commit a necktie murder in a hotel-room!). The climax, then, resolves itself in a rather protracted showdown between the two - Spain and the injured hoodlum having been eliminated beforehand - conducted within caves (incidentally, these had also housed a local nightclub!) and ending by a stream (where Nicholson lets go of the diamonds before expiring himself)with the words "The End" amusingly superimposed on a throwaway shot of the latter's shoes! Incidentally, the ironic final resting place here of the much sought-after jewels was later reprised for the Malta-shot desert adventure A TWIST OF SAND (1968; which I have watched only last month).
Once again, the film (shot concurrently with another effort by the same director and star, namely the war actioner BACK DOOR TO HELL {1964} - whose own viewing will follow presently) underwent additional shooting to stretch the running-time from the original 62 minutes to the current 73 (at least as per the copy I watched, since other sources claim this revamped version to be 80 minutes long).
