What? A John Huston movie starring George Scott, Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Robert Mitchum, Burt Lancaster and Frank Sinatra? And I've never heard of it?
That's why I bought the DVD and after watching it I can see why no one has ever heard of it. The word "gimmicky" was used by a previous viewer, and it is fully apropos.
The movie is an Agatha Christie whodunit wannabe, right down to the English country manor setting. But the plot is very contrived and implausible, stretching credulity. The first half gets off to a good start but the movie runs out of steam and drags in the second half.
It's no secret that Douglas, Mitchum, Lancaster, Curtis and Sinatra all appear in disguise. Douglas is the only one with an actual role; all the others are just cameos, and the movie seems to pride itself on making us spot them. They really aren't very hard to spot, and the joke wears thin. Another quibble is having George Scott play an Englishman; he doesn't expend much effort at an English accent.
To sum up, African Queen or Treasure of the Sierra Madre this aint. On the plus side, the production values, in glorious b&w, are first rate. And I learned more from this flick about fox hunting than I ever wanted to know.
That's why I bought the DVD and after watching it I can see why no one has ever heard of it. The word "gimmicky" was used by a previous viewer, and it is fully apropos.
The movie is an Agatha Christie whodunit wannabe, right down to the English country manor setting. But the plot is very contrived and implausible, stretching credulity. The first half gets off to a good start but the movie runs out of steam and drags in the second half.
It's no secret that Douglas, Mitchum, Lancaster, Curtis and Sinatra all appear in disguise. Douglas is the only one with an actual role; all the others are just cameos, and the movie seems to pride itself on making us spot them. They really aren't very hard to spot, and the joke wears thin. Another quibble is having George Scott play an Englishman; he doesn't expend much effort at an English accent.
To sum up, African Queen or Treasure of the Sierra Madre this aint. On the plus side, the production values, in glorious b&w, are first rate. And I learned more from this flick about fox hunting than I ever wanted to know.