“A Hybrid Noir Played Hot: The Beast Must Die” by Ken Hall

A finely crafted, clever combination of film noir, Gothic melodrama, and “classic” detective narrative from Argentina….

The Beast Must Die [La bestia debe morir] (1952, Argentina) is a finely crafted, clever combination of film noir, Gothic melodrama, and “classic” detective narrative. Directed by the talented Román Viñoly Barreto (1914-70), the screenplay derives from the Nicholas Blake novel of the same title, one of the Nigel Strangeways detective series.

The title is drawn from a verse from Ecclesiastes, quoted as an epigraph to the film. The epigraph in Spanish, and as translated in the subtitles, is a paraphrase of the original verse, which reads: “For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts; for all is vanity” (Anonymous). As translated in the film epigraph, the verse is more ambiguous: “The Beast must die, the man dies also; yes, both must die.” The ambiguity derives in part from the paratactic use of “Beast” and “man,” so that the two terms seem opposed. Additionally, the identities of the Beast and the man are called into question. Is the Beast the murder victim, and if so, who is the man? Or is the Beast a figurative entity, a negative force, within both the abusive and callous murdered man and the grieving father, having lost his son to the car driven so unthinkingly by the man he will murder?

The film is a peculiar mixture of polite drawing-room, Agatha Christie style detective tale (a mode subjected here to clever parody), psychological melodrama, and film noir. Most of the characters are upper-class Argentines or expatriates (Strangeways), but the seemingly genteel atmosphere is sharply undercut by the viciousness of the family relationship between the murdered man, his wife, and his astoundingly repulsive mother, who exudes hatred in an arresting performance by Milagros de la Vega. Thus, the traditional Argentine aristocracy (of wealth or birth) is sharply dissected, much in the manner of the treatment of the American arriviste middle class in noir and melodrama of the 1940s and 1950s, for example in Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz, 1945) (Curtiz). Like the masterful Spanish film Muerte de un ciclista [Death of a Cyclist] (Juan Antonio Bardem, 1955) (Bardem), although somewhat less corrosively, the Argentine film uncovers the hypocrisy behind the brittle façade of 1950s upper-class Hispanic society.

The screenplay shows a fine awareness of the necessary distinction between a written source such as the novel by Blake and a cinematic adaptation. As Eddie Muller observes, the diary entries by the killer which open the novel have been replaced by an opening scene which shows a family argument and the shocking murder of the paterfamilias Jorge Rattery (Guillermo Battaglia). As Muller also notes, the detective Niles Strangeways is shunted off to the side in the film narrative (Muller). These changes not only add to the economical effectives of the film narrative but also cause the viewer to become the detective. The performances, under the skilled direction of Viñoly Barreto, are excellent. Muller remarks that the roles are “played hot” in the melodramatic excess common to Spanish-speaking films of this era and type, so that contemporary English-speaking viewers should adjust their expectations of an acceptable film performance accordingly (Muller). The film is an inspired example of melodramatic noir, with quirky characters and interesting plot twists.

The Film Noir Foundation and Flicker Alley Blu-ray release, restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, includes a feature with comments by Fernando Martín Peña and Daniel Viñoly (the director’s son) as well as audio commentary by Martín Peña. The video quality is excellent, with clear Spanish audio and careful English subtitles. A highly recommended release.

Works Cited

Anonymous. “Ecclesiastes 3:19.” Bible Study Tools. Revised Standard Version. New York: Abingdon Press, 1953. Vol. 10 of The Interpreter’s Bible: The Holy Scriptures in the King James and Revised Standard Versions with General Articles and Introduction, Exegesis, Exposition for Each Book of the Bible. Accessed 12 September 2023.

Bardem, Juan Antonio, dir. Death of a Cyclist [Muerte de un ciclista.] 1955. Digital Videodisc. With Lucia Bosè, Alberto Closas, and Bruna Corrà. Video Mercury-Criterion, 2008.

Curtiz, Michael, dir. Mildred Pierce. 1945. Digital Blu-ray Videodisc. With Joan Crawford, Ann Blyth, Bruce Bennett, Zachary Scott, and Eve Arden. Warner Brothers-Turner-Criterion, 2017.

Muller, Eddie. “Introduction.” Transcription. The Beast Must Die. Noir Alley. Television Series. TCM, 24 October 2021.

Viñoly Barreto, Román, dir. La bestia debe morir. 1952. Digital Blu-ray Videodisc. With Guillermo Battaglia, Milagros de la Vega, Narciso Ibáñez Menta, and Laura Hidalgo. Argentina Sono Film-Flicker Alley, 2021.

Ken Hall (Ph.D., University of Arizona, 1986; MA, University of NC-Chapel Hill, 1978) is professor emeritus of Spanish at ETSU, where he had taught since 1999. His publications include Professionals in Western Film and Fiction (McFarland, 2019), John Woo: The Films (McFarland, [1999] 2012), John Woo’s The Killer (Hong Kong University Press, 2009), Stonewall Jackson and Religious Faith in Military Command (McFarland, 2005) and Guillermo Cabrera Infante and the Cinema (Juan de la Cuesta Hispanic Monographs, 1989). His essay, “Femme Fatale Assassins and the Time Clock” was published on Retreats from Oblivion on Nov. 17, 2021.