Beat the Devil is a 1953 adventure comedy film directed by John Huston, starring Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones, and Gina Lollobrigida, in her American debut, and featuring Robert Morley, Peter Lorre and Bernard Lee.

[5] Huston and Truman Capote wrote the screenplay, loosely based upon the 1951 novel of the same name by British journalist Claud Cockburn writing under the pseudonym James Helvick.

"[6] The script, written on a day-to-day basis as the film was shot,[7] concerns the adventures of a motley crew of swindlers and ne'er-do-wells trying to claim land rich in uranium deposits in Kenya as they wait in a small Italian port to travel aboard a tramp steamer en route to Mombasa.

He is reluctantly working with four crooks: Peterson, Julius O'Hara, Major Jack Ross, and Ravello, who are trying to acquire uranium-rich land in British East Africa.

While waiting in Italy for passage to Africa, Billy and his wife Maria meet a British couple, Harry and Gwendolen Chelm, who plan to travel on the same ship.

Billy and Peterson decide to take a plane instead, but their car runs over a cliff when they are pushing it after a breakdown and the pair are wrongly reported to have been killed.

Billy creates a distraction by fleeing the room, and befriends Ahmed when he is recaptured by talking to him about Rita Hayworth, whom he pretends to have known.

Some scenes were also shot in nearby Atrani, including – briefly – the pool area of the Hotel Convento Luna.

"[14] Humphrey Bogart reportedly disliked the film, possibly because he lost a good deal of his own money financing it.