The wealthy family saga has always been an audience's favorite:think "giant" (1956) or "written on the wind"(same year) or "home from the hill"(1960,which featured George Peppard too).The genre became essentially a TV show afterwards,the likes of "Dallas" and "Dynasty".Today,it has almost died down.
"The carpetbaggers" is very unlikely story of a tycoon who pushes the others out of his way and whose heart of stone nobody can break.Add the de rigueur childhood trauma -which,as anyone past infancy should know,explains everything!Around him , a bevy of beautiful women :Caroll Baker,as his attractive mother-in-law(!)Martha Hyer as a would be actress,and Elizabeth Ashley as his deceived wife .Alan Ladd plays a movie star down on his luck ,because of the coming of the talkies.It's his swansong and his last scene with Peppard is impressive.So impressive we could do without the implausible mushy epilogue which follows.
George Peppard is extremely good and it's his performance that saves the movie from tediousness.As for Edward Dmytryk,his best works("the Caine mutiny" "the young lions") were behind him and what came next would be disastrous(notably the western "Shalako" with Brigitte Bardot and Sean Connery)
"The carpetbaggers" is very unlikely story of a tycoon who pushes the others out of his way and whose heart of stone nobody can break.Add the de rigueur childhood trauma -which,as anyone past infancy should know,explains everything!Around him , a bevy of beautiful women :Caroll Baker,as his attractive mother-in-law(!)Martha Hyer as a would be actress,and Elizabeth Ashley as his deceived wife .Alan Ladd plays a movie star down on his luck ,because of the coming of the talkies.It's his swansong and his last scene with Peppard is impressive.So impressive we could do without the implausible mushy epilogue which follows.
George Peppard is extremely good and it's his performance that saves the movie from tediousness.As for Edward Dmytryk,his best works("the Caine mutiny" "the young lions") were behind him and what came next would be disastrous(notably the western "Shalako" with Brigitte Bardot and Sean Connery)