Follow up story to Broken Arrow (1950) in which Jeff Chandler reprises his role as Cochise. Cavalry Oficer John Lund has established a peaceful community relationship with Cochise which is undermined and ultimately lost when a crooked Indian-Affairs representative (Bruce Cowling) and Geronimo (Jay Silverheels) manage to incite a war for their own ends. Perhaps a little too melodramatic for its own good, with the all important action playing second fiddle to the dialogue, the film never-the-less has some exciting and tense moments and the battle scenes are first rate and very realistic. Jack Elam lends sterling support as a baddie. My only adverse comment is about the photography. The images are oddly composed to highlight the grandeur of the location setting with most of the action taking place at the bottom of the frame or even in one corner of it with lots of rocky scenery and oceans of empty blue sky given priority! Impressive no doubt, though a trifle odd and very distracting when done to excess, but at least it's all in lovely Universal Technicolor, which for me, is the icing on the cake!
Reviews
5 Reviews
A delightful period piece with many surprises
1 October 2005
This film appears to be aplauded by its own countrymen and derided by everyone else. I can only say, as an Englishman that I agree with my French counterparts! This film for me was a delightful surprise! It has to be viewed within the context in which it was made and anyone who thinks that the musical numbers are poor has really missed the point! The film captures in scenes of wonderfully absurd comedy, a rehearsal for a french revue in a second rate variety theatre. It was great fun to see Loius de Funes in an early supporting role, but I particularly like the whole feel of the film. At its most realistic, it really captures the feeling of being there in the theatre while chaos rules the rehearsal.
Many of the pieces are hilariously funny, not least the bathing hut scene on the beach and the monks finale piece. For anyone who cringes at the nudity, I was delighted to find it all left in, realistically and is it should be! Also nice to see Agfacolour, though I have to confess that the print I saw was a slightly faded Eastman colour print form my own archive. Never-the-less, a delight and one to be accepted for what it is. It is a delightful time capsule period piece and I loved it!
Many of the pieces are hilariously funny, not least the bathing hut scene on the beach and the monks finale piece. For anyone who cringes at the nudity, I was delighted to find it all left in, realistically and is it should be! Also nice to see Agfacolour, though I have to confess that the print I saw was a slightly faded Eastman colour print form my own archive. Never-the-less, a delight and one to be accepted for what it is. It is a delightful time capsule period piece and I loved it!
Dangerous Ground
(1934)
Corny, but if you like this kind of thing, real treasure!
4 September 2004
I absolutely adore old British pictures and particularly the films of the 30's, 40's and 50's. This one came as something of a surprise, more so in that I had never seen it before. I expected something that would be extremely creaky and rather dull, but on the contrary I found it to be quaintly dated, nicely done and delightfully corny in the nicest possible way! (Entertainingly amusing, rather than ridiculously laughable.)
It is extremely atmospheric and when the sound is at it's best, the dialogue is superbly recorded. The male voices particularly have great presence and a surprising degree of base level in this Variable Density track. The script is good too and not afraid to be tongue in cheek when required, which gives it an extra lift.
Overall however, the recording quality does vary considerably and the picture has a very wide dynamic range, which presumably depended to some degree on where the microphones were situated in the long shots and the scenes with multiple actors in them, which were rather quiet and 'distant'.
Overall however, this is a well done crime picture which has many elements, no loose ends and an absorbingly engaging quality, with eerie lighting, performances which are convincing and not too stilted like a great many other pictures of the same period, and a nice mystery element to it.
The ending is perhaps just a shade obvious and slightly disappointing, but overall, compulsive viewing. The film is particularly nicely edited, but then it would be, since the film editor was David Lean and he was very good at his craft. All in all a nice little discovery for anyone that is into this sort of thing. I may in retrospect have overdone the voting, but I gave it 6 out of 10 for it's high level of overall quality, despite the constraints of it's early vintage.
It is extremely atmospheric and when the sound is at it's best, the dialogue is superbly recorded. The male voices particularly have great presence and a surprising degree of base level in this Variable Density track. The script is good too and not afraid to be tongue in cheek when required, which gives it an extra lift.
Overall however, the recording quality does vary considerably and the picture has a very wide dynamic range, which presumably depended to some degree on where the microphones were situated in the long shots and the scenes with multiple actors in them, which were rather quiet and 'distant'.
Overall however, this is a well done crime picture which has many elements, no loose ends and an absorbingly engaging quality, with eerie lighting, performances which are convincing and not too stilted like a great many other pictures of the same period, and a nice mystery element to it.
The ending is perhaps just a shade obvious and slightly disappointing, but overall, compulsive viewing. The film is particularly nicely edited, but then it would be, since the film editor was David Lean and he was very good at his craft. All in all a nice little discovery for anyone that is into this sort of thing. I may in retrospect have overdone the voting, but I gave it 6 out of 10 for it's high level of overall quality, despite the constraints of it's early vintage.
Mission Batangas
(1968)
Interesting made for TV movie, better than anticipated!
26 July 2004
Copyright date on film shows 1967. Alternative title "Except People get Killed". UK certificate 'A'. I was lucky enough to see an original Dye Technicolor print of this picture, projected theatrically, so I saw it in it's optimum viewing condition, which certainly adds that extra something. Even viewing through rose tinted spectacles however, it's not a great movie, but there's plenty of action to keep you occupied throughout. A proper boys own adventure in fact.
Dennis Weaver is inevitably somewhat limited as an actor, but never the less I still got a lump in my throat when this interesting minor film ends somewhat tragically, helping to leave an indelible impression on the memory.
A 'B' movie in all respects but certainly worth a look at.
Clearly originally shot in Academy ratio and photographically composed very nicely in that format, only the main and end titles have been re-shot to conform with wide screen cinema projection. I was lucky to see it projected in Academy format by an intuitive and intelligent projectionist. The composition would certainly be an uncomfortable fit if shown in 1.85:1 with all the cropping that this would entail. All told, I had a pleasant evening with this film. Not every film can be an academy award winning block buster. The lesser, smaller films have their place too. It's all part of the rich tapestry of film appreciation, and good to have a balanced diet.
Dennis Weaver is inevitably somewhat limited as an actor, but never the less I still got a lump in my throat when this interesting minor film ends somewhat tragically, helping to leave an indelible impression on the memory.
A 'B' movie in all respects but certainly worth a look at.
Clearly originally shot in Academy ratio and photographically composed very nicely in that format, only the main and end titles have been re-shot to conform with wide screen cinema projection. I was lucky to see it projected in Academy format by an intuitive and intelligent projectionist. The composition would certainly be an uncomfortable fit if shown in 1.85:1 with all the cropping that this would entail. All told, I had a pleasant evening with this film. Not every film can be an academy award winning block buster. The lesser, smaller films have their place too. It's all part of the rich tapestry of film appreciation, and good to have a balanced diet.
Foes
(1977)
Great idea which goes awry due to lousy dialogue, acting and photography!
4 June 2004
Warning: Spoilers
Spoiler. Great idea which sadly goes awry due to lousy acting, dialogue and photography. At its worst photographically it looks like 8mm blown up to 35. Many shots completely out of focus and poorly composed for the 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The acting is particularly wooden, the casting poor and the dialogue banal. It's almost a Turkey but just misses the mark, otherwise this could have become a cult film. The idea on the other hand is a good one, and once the banality of the first two reels is over the plot becomes quite engaging. Special effects are surprisingly ingenious for such a low budget film and you can clearly see where John Coats' real talents lie. By no means the worst film I've ever seen and worth a look at if your on the hunt for fresh turkey meat, otherwise dodgy.
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