Bunuel turns in a relatively straightforward adaptation of Daniel Defoe's novel. It's a handsomely mounted technicolor production produced during his Mexican exile period, but shot in English for consumption North of the border. Dan O'Herlihy (best known to modern audiences for "Robocop") stars (the producers wanted Orson Welles, but Bunuel rejected Welles in favour of O'Herlihy whom he saw playing McDuff in Welles's "Macbeth"). O'Herlihy does a fine job and received a Best Actor nomination for his work here. There are almost none of Bunuel's usual touches here ... though a case of kittens born through what appears to be immaculate conception and a Biblical debate between Robinson and Friday seem to gesture at his contempt for the Church.
Review of Robinson Crusoe
