No Exit (1962 film)

No Exit
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Tad Danielewski
Screenplay by	George Tabori Orson Welles (uncredited)
Based on	No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre
Produced by	Fernando Ayala Héctor Olivera
Starring	Morgan Sterne Viveca Lindfors Rita Gam
Cinematography	Ricardo Younis
Edited by	Jacques Bart Carl Lerner Atilio Rinaldi
Music by	Vladimir Ussachevsky
Production company	Aries Cinematográfica Argentina
Distributed by	Zenith International Films
Release date	December 5, 1962 (1962-12-05) (United States)
Running time	85 minutes
Countries	United States Argentina
Language	English

No Exit, also known as Sinners Go to Hell,^[1] is a 1962 American-Argentine dramatic film adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre's play No Exit directed by Tad Danielewski. The film stars Morgan Sterne, Viveca Lindfors and Rita Gam.

Plot

The Valet (Manuel Rosón) enters a hotel room with Joseph Garcin (Morgan Sterne) in tow. The windowless room has a single entrance and no mirrors. Two women, Inès Serrano (Viveca Lindfors) and Estelle Rigault (Rita Gam), are then led in. Afterwards, the Valet leaves and locks the door. Realizing that they are in hell, the trio expects to be tortured; no torturer is forthcoming. While waiting, they strike up a conversation and discuss each other's sins, desires, and unpleasant memories. They slowly realize that such probing is the form of torture they are meant to receive.

It later becomes apparent that Joseph, once a journalist, was executed for cowardice and the betrayal of the French Resistance. Estelle, who has a voracious sexual appetite, was a gold digger and seductress who killed a man. Meanwhile, the lesbian Inès abused her partner's love for her and eventually killed them both in a murder-suicide. As the story progresses, Garcin becomes increasingly annoyed by Inès' considering him a coward, while Estelle makes unreciprocated advances on him; Inès is tempted by Estelle, but crazed by Estelle's heterosexuality.

The three at first continue to see events happening on Earth but as the living move on, they are left with only their own thoughts and the company of the other two. Towards the end of the film, Garcin demands he be let out. In response, the door opens; none leave, resigning themselves to their fate.

Production

Sartre did not know about the film while it was in production.^[2] Viveca Lindfors, at the time married to screenwriter George Tabori, was chosen to play Inès.^[3]

Style

The film uses dialogue-free flashbacks when the main characters talk about their lives.^[4] Alison Darren in the Lesbian Film Guide notes that Inès is a "typical screen lesbian" of the early 1960s, both physically attractive and inherently evil.^[5]

Release and reception

After being screened at the 12th Berlin International Film Festival in June 1962, where Rita Gam and Viveca Lindfors shared the Silver Bear for Best Actress award,^[6] No Exit received its American release on December 5.^[1]

Bosley Crowther, writing for The New York Times, found the film "antiseptic", with emotionless acting and stagy directing; he summarized that the film "prove[d] that "No Exit" is inappropriate material for a full-length [film]".^[4] Allison Darren calls the film an "excellent psychological drama" with a "surprisingly overt" depiction of lesbianism.^[5]

See also

• Huis clos (1954)

References

1. IMDB, Sinners Go to Hell.
2. Contat & Rybalka 1974, p. 612.
3. Feinberg 1999, p. 20.
4. Crowther 1962, Gay Purr-ee (1962).
5. Darren 2000, p. 152.
6. BIFF, Berlinale 1962: Prize.

Bibliography

• "Berlinale 1962: Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Archived from the original on December 30, 2011. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
• Contat, Michel; Rybalka, Michel (1974). The Writings of Jean-Paul Sartre. Northwestern University Studies in Phenomenology & Existential Philosophy. Evanston: Northwestern University Press. ISBN 978-0-8101-0439-6.
• Crowther, Bosley (December 6, 1962). "Gay Purr-ee (1962) Screen: Sartre's 'No Exit' in Premiere at Sutton:His One-Act Play Was Adapted by Tabori Three Other Pictures Have Openings. 'Gay Purr--ee' Cartoon". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 18, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
• Darren, Alison (2000). Lesbian Film Guide. New York: Cassell. ISBN 978-0-304-33376-9.
• Feinberg, Anat (1999). Embodied Memory : The Theatre of George Tabori. Studies in Theatre History and Culture. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press. ISBN 978-0-87745-686-5.
• "Sinners Go to Hell (1962)". Internet Movie Database. Archived from the original on January 14, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2012.

External links

• Sinners Go to Hell at IMDb