Die Unbesiegten

Unconquered (1947) is a miracle of bad filmmaking. This is Cecil B. DeMille overindulging himself for two and a half hours, offering us a healthy heaping of camp, costumes, sexual titillation, and over the top action.

Where does one even begin? The characters are all idiots who wander from scene to scene, somehow surviving an onslaught of ridiculous events ranging from plunging from a waterfall to surviving an attack courtesy of offensive Native American stereotypes. Poor Paulette Goddard finds herself spending 75 percent of the movie trussed up, leered at, threatened with phallic objects, and in her undergarments, usually several of those things at once. I'm surprised the Code was okay with such sadomasochistic elements in the picture, but maybe they just laughed it off because it was so silly.

The cast is made up of a talented bunch, but their performances are largely uneven. Gary Cooper, Paulette Goddard, and Boris Karloff seem embarrassed to be there and alternate between being wooden and cartoon-y. Only Howard Da Silva as the lecherous villain comes off with his dignity intact, knowing that when you're in schlock, you have to go gloriously all out with the camp.

The whole look of the film is studio-bound and garish, so it's not visually appealing either. If you are a connoisseur of kitsch or have a group of like-minded friends, then this turkey is a fun one.

It's Saturday Afternoon at the Bijou time, courtesy of the over-the-top presentation of Cecil B. DeMille. The film is rich in atmosphere and with an eye for detail in capturing colonial America, no matter how ludicrous the situations may be at times. Yes, the casting of Boris Karloff as an Indian chief is a camp enthusiast's delight but, if taken in the right spirit, only adds to the fun.

The film is highlighted by an action set piece involving an escape from the Indians and a plunge over a waterfall. No credibility whatsoever as far as the real world is concerned. But who says this is the real world? It's the movies where the impossible can happen and we are along for the ride which includes the wonderful Technicolor enhancing of its many visual pleasures.

I can't recommend Unconquered enough for those adventure seekers fully prepared to suspend their sense of disbelief in advance, and it may be the only film ever made about Pontiac's Rebellion, although, Pontiac is never mentioned.

It's 1763 and two men Capt. Christopher Holden (Gary Cooper) and trader Garth (Howard Da Silva) taking the same ship back to Virginia from London bid for the contract of a woman named Abby (Paulette Goddard) who was given a choice between execution in England or 14 years of indentured servitude in the colonies. The winner Holden gallantly frees her and leaves the ship to join his girlfriend about to marry her . The loser who illegally sells guns to the local Seneca Indians destroys the contract and manages Abby working in his saloon . Along the way Cooper suffers assaults and has to help the settlers fight Indians and escaping from savage natives. Crimson-haired slave girl . . . desired by a man of destiny! Together they shared the thrills of the most daring spectacle De Mille ever filmed !They live again¡ Dauntless men and women who kept America unconquered ¡. I bought this woman for my own..and I'll kill the man who touches her!From A People Like This Came America's Heritage. In A Story Like This Lies America's Greatness!

Lavish film , in fact producers spent a reported 4 million dollar to bring to life this thrilling and moving melodrama , and most of it shows up on the big screen, while outstanding the heroic derring-do of Cooper including the overwhelming getaway by Gary along with Paulette over treacherous and wild rapids and falls that result to be most notable among the colorful set pieces . This is a spectacular adventure combining melodrama with improbability and garnishes it with hokum enough . Containing some splendidly staged scenes in which Gary Cooper has to keep rescuing Goddard throughout the film as well as fighting Da Silva . As Gary Cooper is very good , as usual , as the brave hero attempting to foil plans of controlling the Ohio Valley and to deliver peace belts to the Indians who have already sent out war belts. And female strring Paulette Goddard is frankly gorgeous . Adding a nice gallery of villains as Howard Da Silva as an eminently hissable nasty playing the scurvy trader , Boris Karloff making an unusual appearance as an Indian chief . Furthermore , other illustrous secondaries as Cecil Kellaway, Ward Bond, Katherine DeMille , Henry Wilcoxon , C. Aubrey Smith ,Mike Mazurski , Porter Hall, Jane Nigh, Alan Napier , Raymond Hatton and Marc Lawrence .

It displays a colorful photography from Ray Rennahan , and shot on location in Allegheny Mountain, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, , Big Mesa Falls, Ashton, Idaho, Wolf Creek, New York State,Conejo Grade, Los Angeles,Snake River, Clearwater River,Idaho . Including excellent special effects by Academy Award winning Gordon Jennings . Along with impressive production design by Hans Dreier and Walter Tyler . Thrilling as well as romantic musical score by the classic Victor Young . This vigorous motion picture was realized in Cecil B DeMille's ordinary style , supported by a magnificent second unit by Harold Rosson ; both of them made some greatests spectacles of all time .DeMille especiality was spectacle and he certainly delivers a full measure of it. Although a nimbler action filmmaker than Cecil might have made even more of the Oscar-winning effects work . Cecil produced and directed 70 films and was involved in many more . Many of his films were romantic sexual comedies , as he is supposed to have believed that Americans were curious only about money and sex . His best-known were biblical epics that further established him as the symbol of Hollywood such as ¨King of Kings¨ (1927), The ten Commandments (1923) , ¨The Crusades¨(1935) , ¨Reap of the wild wind¨ (1949) , and , of course , Charlton Heston's ¨Ten commandments¨ (1956) and he made two versions about ¨The Buccaneer : 1938 and 1958¨ that was ended by Anthony Quinn and Arthur Rosson . Rating : 7/10 . Well worth watching . Better than average

I had heard that Howard Hawks wanted Gary Cooper to play the lead in red river, but Cooper didn't want to play a character that dark so he played in this instead. That would of been cool to see Cooper play John Wayne's part in Red River. This movie has a great cast like Cooper, Ward Bond, Boris Karloff and directed by Cecil B. DeMille. This movie has been compared to Northwest Passage but i think this one is better. Cooper is good as usual and so is the rest of the cast.

I must confess I really like Cecil B. DeMille's pseudo historical epics. They are as fascinating to watch as a head on collision between two (2) trains and about as subtle. So lets get this clear if your looking for any sort of historical accuracy, LOOK ELSEWHERE! For hand-wringing political correctness BEGONE! The Colonial Settlers are good, the Indians bad and the British are incompetent, thats it. If you are expecting dialog by way of Hamlet thats not going to be here either. Like Harrison Ford said about George Lucas, "You can write dialog like that, but we can't say it".

The fun of this film is to watch it unfold in all it's glorious Three (3) Strip Technicolor and follow the adventures of Paulette Goddard with Gary Cooper as they move from one (1) set piece to another. For thats what this film is as series of set pieces. Or as what some critics of DeMille felt, he did not make motion pictures but moving paintings, though very entertaining ones.

"The Perils of Paulette" is what the critics referred to this picture upon its original release. I think very few actresses were put upon more then she was in this movie. She was bound (chains, rope or leather), almost whipped, almost burned at the stake, almost drowned going over a waterfall, almost raped, etc. If this had been a pre-code film I am sure we would have seen something like the excesses in 'THE SIGN OF THE CROSS'! It would have been interesting to see what ended up on the cutting room floor that could not make it past the censors. Supposedly during filming she blew up and walked off the set until DeMille could bring things down to an acting (or pain tolerance) level, referring to DeMille as a SADIST! DeMille liked troopers such as Barbara Stanwyck and did not forget this. When Paulette wanted the role of 'Delilah' DeMille told her to take two (2) drop dead pills and effectively ended her career. When the 'UNCONQUERED' was finished CB issued gold medallions to those he felt were real troopers. Boris Karloff got one (1) and the drummer boy (for not flinching when a ball of fire bounces off his drum), not Paulette.

When you watch a Cecil B. DeMille film the important thing is not to take it seriously and just enjoy the ride. There are alway some neat things that you can pick up. Though he plays fast and loose with history (most directors do to this day; Michael Moore, Oliver Stone) he gets a lot of details right. The firearms, swords, uniforms even the shape of the British star fort are all right on. There is also excellent attention to detail on the day to day life of this period of history. He did build his films from the ground up and if did not convey historical accuracy gave a good imitation. Sort of a 1940's version of virtual reality. It looks great but is not all there.