Although this film directed by the versatile William Wellman is not essentially different from many other fallen women pictures of the early talkie era, it has elements that lift it out of the ordinary. For contemporary viewers it's an opportunity to see Dorothy Mackaill in a starring role. She was a beautiful and self-possessed actress whose career came and went too quickly. At times she looks so much like Marion Davies that you could easily mistake them for twins. Here she plays a prostitute fleeing the law with a young fellow who loves her. He deposits her in a hotel on a steamy Caribbean island inhabited by escaped male criminals. There is the appealing shock of seeing two African-American actors actually speaking and behaving in a dignified and even admirable manner: Nina Mae MacKinney and Clarence Muse as a hotel proprietress and porter, respectively. Muse speaks the King's English better than the blonde leading lady and comports himself in a far more civilized manner than any of the white men. MacKinney is spectacular. She holds her own no matter who she is playing against and even sings a spirited round of "Sleepy Time Down South" as she pours wine for a large table of diners. Another case of wasted talent in the old Hollywood days.

DOROTHY MACKAILL is a name unknown by today's moviegoers but she was a pretty good actress judging by her work as a prostitute on the lam in SAFE IN HELL. It's the kind of tough gal role that would have suited someone like Barbara Stanwyck, but Mackaill is a pretty blonde who nails her character completely.

After giving her ex-lover rough treatment and thinking he's dead after his apartment catches fire, she's advised to flee to a tropical island where there's no extradition to the United States for criminals. What she discovers is that the island is a living hell and all of its inhabitants are fugitives from the law.

There's such a ring of familiarity about the whole story that I can swear it must have been remade years later, perhaps for an Ann Sheridan movie or a vehicle for Jean Harlow. I'll have to check it out, but I'm sure I've seen this whole story before in a later version.

For pre-code fans, this is a "must see." All of the situations are racy enough to send the censors reeling and some of the dialog is crisp and believable in a way that most films of the '30s never achieve.

About as downbeat as any film about sinners, it's directed in forthright fashion by William A. Wellman, with some decidedly unpleasant looking men cast in supporting roles as island outcasts. Worth a watch for the performances of Dorothy Mackaill and Nina Mae McKinney in the only femme roles.

Only other recognizable cast member for me was IVAN SIMPSON, who had a brief scene in THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD where he played the proprietor of Kent Road Tavern who admits Maid Marian so that she can inform Robin's men about his capture.

"Safe in hell" what a title! When you watch it,you will agree that the title was thoroughly justified.

It was hard to be a hero (or a heroine ) in Wellman's brilliant movies of the thirties:from the wild boys of the street to Lilly Turner ,they all got a raw deal.

Gilda leaves a macho world to wind up in another macho world even more awful than the one she left behind.

The movie is short (about 70 minutes) and there are only two "happy" scenes in the whole story: the "wedding" ,a peak of romanticism and restrained emotion,and the short moment when the lovers meet again ,a scene very Borzagesque (there's a similar scene in "street angel" when Janet Gaynor asks the cop for one hour to say goodbye to the one she loves).

As for the rest ,it's a ruthless depiction of hateful males who only know one rule:theirs.The arrival of Gilda in this seedy place could only be filmed in the pre -code Hayes days: those men salivate like Pavlov's dogs ,getting an eyeful as Gilda comes up the stairs.

Like Tom in "heroes for sale" ,Gilda wants to keep her promise ;like him she gave everything;Tom hits the road and becomes a tramp ;Gilda's fate will be more terrible than his.

Another unusual melodrama by one of the past masters of the American cinema of the thirties/forties.