Grace Kelly and Stewart Granger star in this adventure/romantic drama, centered on a greed-inducing emerald deposit in South America.
Granger portrays Rian Mitchell, who along with his partner Vic (Paul Douglas) is looking for riches in the form of emeralds. The two have been traveling from place to place, mine to mine, hoping to find success but often finding nothing. Vic is reluctant to mine the emerald deposits, but Rian cons him into it.
While setting up the site, Rian meets Catherine Knowland (Grace Kelly), a beautiful woman who runs a coffee plantation with her brother in Colombia.
Unbeknownst to Rian, Catherine and her brother are in a bit of a pickle financially and are depending on a good harvest to pull them out of it. Still, Catherine agrees to help Rian by letting some of the laborers on her plantation work for him in the mine.
Rian and Catherine fall for each other, but Rian’s loyalty to his search for emeralds poses a problem, as do a number of other disasters that pop up along the way.
The best thing this film has going for it is the beautiful settings, shot on location in Colombia. Brought to life in gorgeous technicolor, the backdrop of all of the action is a treat for the viewer.
Unfortunately, the film as a whole doesn’t live up to the greatness of the sets.
Grace Kelly looks beautiful as usual, but has little chemistry with her supposed love interest Stewart Granger. Their scenes together come off not as two people falling for each other, but two actors very obviously playing parts. Paul Douglas churns out a solid performance in his role as Vic, but one believable supporting role can only go so far.
The plot also leaves some to be desired. It’s your typical, run-of-the-mill South American adventure film. A decent level of tension and drama is built within the conflict between Rian and the locals, but every move in the story is predictable.
Green Fire is a mediocre adventure/drama that I expected much more out of. The score: 2/5
The Motion Pictures 