While travelling around Europe, an American drifter and dreamer gets hired as a male tutor for a young boy. In the course of his duties, he discovers a network of far-right extremists who dream of bringing back the birch, the gallows, the colonial plantation and other charms of the good old days. His quest to safeguard the boy leads him through a succession of mansions, châteaux and lairs...
I don't know about you, but when watching fiction I tend to appreciate baddies who aren't complete nitwits. In "House of cards" the Fascist extremists make one mistake after another : they allow the protagonist (our American drifter) to approach them without prior vetting, they pique his curiosity through clumsy overtures, they give him leave to wander all over their lairs and stamping grounds, they imprison him without chaining, handcuffing or blindfolding him, they fail to dope him until he thinks he's Friar Tuck, and so on. Moreover, several of their assassination attempts go awry - and how difficult can it be, for instance, to shoot an unsuspecting man who's out angling with friends ? By way of cherry on the cake, they expect the protagonist to hand over an incriminating list of names he stole from them. Supposedly their troubles will be over if he returns the paper document - but what if he photographed or copied it first ? So no, the bad guys in "House of cards" don't make for fearsomely efficient adversaries, on the contrary. After a while one starts hoping that their various minders were prescient enough to sew name and address labels into their little coats.
Those viewers willing to overlook the problem can enjoy "House of cards" as a colorful adventure yarn. The action moves from one jaw-dropping European location to another and there are fistfights, duels, pursuits and escapes galore. Lead actor George Peppard does very well. So, in his own way, does Orson Welles, although the latter makes but brief appearances. The music is agreeable, though possibly a bit too sweetly romantic.
Needless to say, this is not the movie to watch if you're interested in a profound analysis of far-right extremism or Fascist resurgence in post-War Europe.
I don't know about you, but when watching fiction I tend to appreciate baddies who aren't complete nitwits. In "House of cards" the Fascist extremists make one mistake after another : they allow the protagonist (our American drifter) to approach them without prior vetting, they pique his curiosity through clumsy overtures, they give him leave to wander all over their lairs and stamping grounds, they imprison him without chaining, handcuffing or blindfolding him, they fail to dope him until he thinks he's Friar Tuck, and so on. Moreover, several of their assassination attempts go awry - and how difficult can it be, for instance, to shoot an unsuspecting man who's out angling with friends ? By way of cherry on the cake, they expect the protagonist to hand over an incriminating list of names he stole from them. Supposedly their troubles will be over if he returns the paper document - but what if he photographed or copied it first ? So no, the bad guys in "House of cards" don't make for fearsomely efficient adversaries, on the contrary. After a while one starts hoping that their various minders were prescient enough to sew name and address labels into their little coats.
Those viewers willing to overlook the problem can enjoy "House of cards" as a colorful adventure yarn. The action moves from one jaw-dropping European location to another and there are fistfights, duels, pursuits and escapes galore. Lead actor George Peppard does very well. So, in his own way, does Orson Welles, although the latter makes but brief appearances. The music is agreeable, though possibly a bit too sweetly romantic.
Needless to say, this is not the movie to watch if you're interested in a profound analysis of far-right extremism or Fascist resurgence in post-War Europe.