Zigeuner-Wildkatze

It is for me the best Roy William Neill's film besides some Sherlock Holmes movies such as SCARLET CLAW. That said it is a splendid adventure movie in the line of Robin Hood material: medieval, settings, character symphony, overall scheme concerning the topic. Maria Montez is excellent as a gypsy woman and Jon Hall unforgettable too, as usual in his other features. It is colorful, action packed, the intrigue not that surprising, but who would be idiot enough to expect anything different from a Hollywood stuff? I always enjoy all those Maria Montez Jon Hall's films, a forever lost charm. Irrepplaceable.

Unpretentious little swashbuckler starring Maria Montez. Nigel Bruce is billed 4th as the High Sheriff but only appears in the final 13 minutes of a feature that runs 1 hour and 15 minutes. He provides some broad but enjoyable buffoonery and is something of a Deus Ex Machina.

Maria Montez is the queen of her gypsy tribe. When Douglas Dumbrille kills the local baron and assumes the dignity of tat rank, he blame it on the anonymous Jon Hall, who seeks refuge with te gypsies. The nominal leader, Leo Carrillo is quite happy to turn Hall over, but he is overruled by Miss Montez, who loves him with a passion only a wild gypsy can understand.

I don't think anyone involved in this movie took it in the least seriously, especially when the big ending comes and it's perpetually befuddled Nigel Bruce who has to work his wobbly way into revealing the secret that Dumbrille and the audience have figured out long before. The story, which veers from Scaramouche to the girl with the mysterious locket which proves her noble birth -- and which looks like the radiator cap off a Cadillac. There are some good stunts, and nice Technicolor images by Howard Green and George Robinson.+ Universal knew they had a winning combination in Hall and Miss Montez, so they allowed director Roy William Neill to turn this into a comedy.

When you consider what Eisenstein would have done if he'd had the opportunity to work in Technicolor one can only savour the irony that Roy William Neill was able to avail himself of that miracle of technology - and had use of a camera dolly which facilitated some astonishingly mobile camerawork at a time when the Technicolor cameras still weighed a ton - on an obvious piece of hack work.

Universal at that time were investing heavily in Technicolor to dress up their otherwise cheap productions and this film's leading men Jon Hall and Peter Coe are so bland they seem to have been deliberately chosen to divert attention from the fact that their leading lady's sole talent was for photographing well in Technicolor (although she certainly looks impressive in puffed sleeves and red boots), while the least funny element is naturally the comic relief of Leo Carrillo and Curt Bois. But the presence of Gale Sondergaard - who along with a bearded Nigel Bruce was probably enlisted from a Sherlock Holmes picture being filmed on an adjacent soundstage - amply compensates.

The film's most obvious economy was in its failure to commission a decent script in the first place, which brings us to the most curious feature of 'Gypsy Wildcat', the presence of the name of author of hard-boiled thrillers James M. Cain among the writers. Thereby doubtless hangs a tale.

In an unspecified Renaissance kingdom, no sooner has Anube's gypsy tribe encamped near Baron Tovar's village Count Orso is found murdered- Carla, a gorgeous gypsy girl comes to the aid of a stranger named Michael (Hall) after he discovers a body and is ultimately accused of murder by Baron Tovar (Douglass Dumbrille).

The Baron spots Carla's heraldic pendant which gives him reason to believe she's the long-lost heiress to the dead man's estate, which Tovar has claimed for his own. Getting rid of Michael not only deflects blame but removes competition for Carla's hand in marriage -- and the estate which comes with her.

Filled with action, romance and drama, Gypsy Wildcat features lush locations, beautiful costumes, great set-pieces and solid performances. The pace and melodramatics doesn't let up, and the sheer escapism soaked in Technicolor just sucks you in. The villainy by Douglas Dumbrille adds enough menace, though his death was too sudden and odd. A little swordplay would have been nice. Plenty of chases, though. Jon Hall, who here resembles Tyrone Power, makes a likeable hero and Maria Montez sizzles as always - the camera really loves her!