So one rainy day in the early 1990's I was sitting at home flipping through the local TV stations looking for something to watch when I momentarily caught a glimpse of someone who looked familiar. I stopped changing channels for a moment to see if I could figure out why this old guy looked familiar, when it hit me-- that's Henri Charriere, the author of Papillon! He was in a movie? This would have been in the Dark Ages, before the advent of Google or IMDb, so I did what anyone would do back in the day... I called the TV station to ask what the name of the movie was that they were showing at the moment. And it was this film.
Despite the presence of Claudia Cardinale, a well-known (and highly paid) actress (at least in Europe), it only took a few minutes of viewing to see that the film was, well, kinda shite. Poor production values (especially the sound editing, which may have been at least partly caused by overdubs, as the cast seems to have been from all over (Italy, France, Spain, UK). And Charriere is awful; his English is all but incomprehensible, and his acting is a flat as the surface of a CD. The story might have been interesting if the dialogue had been written better, and the director and crew more talented. As is, it's only real value is seeing Charriere on film, as he died shortly before the release of the Steve McQueen/Dustin Hoffman film Papillion, based on his memoir.
Despite the presence of Claudia Cardinale, a well-known (and highly paid) actress (at least in Europe), it only took a few minutes of viewing to see that the film was, well, kinda shite. Poor production values (especially the sound editing, which may have been at least partly caused by overdubs, as the cast seems to have been from all over (Italy, France, Spain, UK). And Charriere is awful; his English is all but incomprehensible, and his acting is a flat as the surface of a CD. The story might have been interesting if the dialogue had been written better, and the director and crew more talented. As is, it's only real value is seeing Charriere on film, as he died shortly before the release of the Steve McQueen/Dustin Hoffman film Papillion, based on his memoir.