FIRE DOWN BELOW is watchable for the performances of ROBERT MITCHUM, RITA HAYWORTH and JACK LEMMON, as well as some good supporting actors, but there's a major disappointment.
The first half of the film deals with relationships and just starts to get added interest from the Mitchum-Hayworth chemistry when the story shifts gears and turns the rest of the plot over to Jack Lemmon for the film's climactic sub-plot. Ordinarily, this would have been fine, but not when viewers are expecting to see the Mitchum-Hayworth pairing develop into a deeper story of its own.
There's a lot of local color and some gorgeous scenery in Trinidad and Jamaica, but the story is an uninspired one that finally gets going once Hayworth enters the scene, then evaporates once she and Mitchum are given less to do.
Lemmon is fine as the happy go lucky, naive sort of bumbler he always played at this stage in his career. Hayworth is an even more jaded version of "Gilda" (maturing now and still quite attractive), and Mitchum is his usual laconic self.
Uneven as drama but watchable for its star appeal.
