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Reviews
The Virgin Soldiers (1969)
Realistic, quirky movie about British soldiers during the Malaysian uprising
Not a normal war movie, this is a well acted study about the unpredictable fortunes of life. A British Army private in Singapore during the Malaysian uprising experiences the boredom of garrison duty, the search for sex and love, and finally the terror of combat. The movie has many interesting twists and turns that illustrate the random quality of luck. The private's girlfriend finally decides to surrender her virginity - only mistakenly offers it to the wrong soldier! Soldiers die accidently, without reason. And when the private panics, and flees combat, he ends up becoming a hero! At the end of the movie the private paraphrases his discoveries - "That's life, isn't it".
Duffy (1968)
Fun movie, filmed in Almeria, Spain
This is a "feel good" movie. It has a fun plot, the actors all put in a good performance, and it was filmed in gorgeous Mediterranean locations. If you like vacationing in the Mediterranean area, this movie whets your appetite for another visit. Most of the movie was filmed in and around the city of Almeria, located on the south coast of Spain. This area has been used frequently for "spaghetti westerns" because of desert-like scenery. The scenes of "Tangiers" were filmed right in the city of Almeria. I visited here in 1984, and the city still had many winding alleys and whitewashed houses that looked like they could have been Tangiers. The lighthouse and rocky beach scenes were filmed at nearby Cabo de Gato. I revisited Almeria in 1999, and it was unrecognizable - all ugly hi-rise buildings. The Cabo de Gato area is still gorgeous, though. There are many beach houses near the lighthouse, but it is now a protected natural reserve area. I've never been able to find the beach club in the movie, although the scenery is very much like the area around the nearby town of San Jose.