IMDb-BEWERTUNG
6,1/10
2398
IHRE BEWERTUNG
Ein ehrenwerter Drifter, der ständig auf der Flucht ist, findet seine Feinde, die sich um ihn herum nähern.Ein ehrenwerter Drifter, der ständig auf der Flucht ist, findet seine Feinde, die sich um ihn herum nähern.Ein ehrenwerter Drifter, der ständig auf der Flucht ist, findet seine Feinde, die sich um ihn herum nähern.
- Regie
- Drehbuch
- Hauptbesetzung
Leroy 'Satchel' Paige
- Sgt. Tobe Sutton
- (as "Satchel" Paige)
Víctor Manuel Mendoza
- Gen. Marcos Castro
- (as Victor Mendoza)
Pedro Armendáriz
- Don Cipriano Castro
- (as Pedro Armendariz)
Empfohlene Bewertungen
I admit to a bias here as the great Robert Mitchum was and is my idol,but this film is another illustration of how a great actor can not only ennoble a role,but single-handed can lift a good-average story into a very credit worthy film. The plot is a good one and the other actors played their part well. This is one of my favourite movies of Mitchum and ofcourse the Mex-american accent was no problem for him. I can quote several lines of dialogue verbatim and not only have the video but the excellent film music score as well. I hope this film will rise in the estimation of Bob Mitchum fans,also film buffs who admire a great actor at his craft (Supreme in an understated way)
I give this movie an E for effort - Mitchum plays an American who had escaped to Mexico in his youth after a violent episode and has grown up working for the local bandits controlling that part of the country. When sent to a US border town to negotiate a weapons deal, he breaks his leg and spends enough time in he US to realize he could make a life for himself with a brighter future - of course things go wrong. Based on a novel by Tom Lea, a forgotten writer of westerns, and staring along with Robert Mitchum in the romantic triangle is Gary Merrill as the local cavalry boss and Julie London as his unhappy wife. What makes it all interesting is the fact that the movie never quite "jells"- Mitchum tries his best against a cast of grade B actors and his performance mostly works. The worst performance is from Julie London who not only is dressed incongruously but looks and acts like a robot. The scenery is spectacular and is the winner in this movie. Add the use of over the top music, and this movie presages the Spaghetti Western.
I love watching Robert Mitchum films....the guy, despite his protests to the contrary, was a genius at making acting look so simple. Because of this, I always try to watch his movies....including "The Wonderful Country". Sadly, however, this isn't a particular noteworthy....not a bad film but certainly among Mitchum's lesser roles.
The story is mildly interesting...but there is A LOT of plot...probably too much for one film. Mitchum plays a man who's lived in Mexico a long time and works with one of the 'generals' who fought over Mexican territory in the late 19th century. He's sent on a mission to retrieve guns for the general...but ends up breaking his leg in the States. It's a compound fracture and his mission is a loss. Then, while in the States you learn his backstory--most importantly why he ran off to Mexico in the first place. Now there IS a lot more plot...including an unlikely and poorly fleshed out romance, an angry Mexican general, a plot to kill Mitchum's character, marauding Apache Indians in Mexico and more. None of it seemed especially compelling.
Overall, a mildly interesting tale...at best. Not bad but the writing sure could have been better.
By the way, watch carefully if you watch it. Late in the film, one of the greatest pitchers in history is in a small role. Larry 'Satchel' Paige plays a Cavalry sergeant...and it's nice that the film acknowledges the contribution of black soldiers/cavalry....as in real life, about a third of them were black Americans...though you rarely see them represented in films.
The story is mildly interesting...but there is A LOT of plot...probably too much for one film. Mitchum plays a man who's lived in Mexico a long time and works with one of the 'generals' who fought over Mexican territory in the late 19th century. He's sent on a mission to retrieve guns for the general...but ends up breaking his leg in the States. It's a compound fracture and his mission is a loss. Then, while in the States you learn his backstory--most importantly why he ran off to Mexico in the first place. Now there IS a lot more plot...including an unlikely and poorly fleshed out romance, an angry Mexican general, a plot to kill Mitchum's character, marauding Apache Indians in Mexico and more. None of it seemed especially compelling.
Overall, a mildly interesting tale...at best. Not bad but the writing sure could have been better.
By the way, watch carefully if you watch it. Late in the film, one of the greatest pitchers in history is in a small role. Larry 'Satchel' Paige plays a Cavalry sergeant...and it's nice that the film acknowledges the contribution of black soldiers/cavalry....as in real life, about a third of them were black Americans...though you rarely see them represented in films.
This offbeat 1959 western stars the laconic Robert Mitchum as gunslinger Martin Brady, a Texas outlaw and outcast who fled to his adopted country Mexico as a youth. He works for the corrupt Castro brothers of whom he finds out much too late that he's just a pawn they move about their chessboard (Northern Mexico) as they please.
The film's major flaw is the narrative...it's a bit jumpy in spots but may have fallen victim studio intervention. Some characters seem to enter briefly, to be seen no more or are underdeveloped. Julie London's Helen Colton seems to fall victim to that. She's an ex dance hall girl (I believe), now a 'respected' wife of Major Colton (Gary Merrill) who engages in an affair with Brady out of pure lust.
But Brady...who's growing older and wearier it seems before our eyes, sees her as his redemption. His guns have cost him heavily, he has no family or lover or even respect. All he has is Mexico and that has betrayed him too. If you're expecting an action packed, shoot them up...this is not for you.
There are elements here we see in later films...we get a taste of Mexican culture, which Brady identifies more with than America, that we see in The Magnificent Seven and The Wild Bunch. And Paul Newman's John Russell in Hombre, mirrors Brady here. All are men without countries, men who cling to a culture or code American society shuns.
The locations, photography and music (Alex North) all help create an atmosphere of majestic isolation. And the inclusion of black Buffalo soldiers is all too rare in westerns, even today.
As one reviewer stated earlier, it could have been more. But there's still a lot here.
The film's major flaw is the narrative...it's a bit jumpy in spots but may have fallen victim studio intervention. Some characters seem to enter briefly, to be seen no more or are underdeveloped. Julie London's Helen Colton seems to fall victim to that. She's an ex dance hall girl (I believe), now a 'respected' wife of Major Colton (Gary Merrill) who engages in an affair with Brady out of pure lust.
But Brady...who's growing older and wearier it seems before our eyes, sees her as his redemption. His guns have cost him heavily, he has no family or lover or even respect. All he has is Mexico and that has betrayed him too. If you're expecting an action packed, shoot them up...this is not for you.
There are elements here we see in later films...we get a taste of Mexican culture, which Brady identifies more with than America, that we see in The Magnificent Seven and The Wild Bunch. And Paul Newman's John Russell in Hombre, mirrors Brady here. All are men without countries, men who cling to a culture or code American society shuns.
The locations, photography and music (Alex North) all help create an atmosphere of majestic isolation. And the inclusion of black Buffalo soldiers is all too rare in westerns, even today.
As one reviewer stated earlier, it could have been more. But there's still a lot here.
The Wonderful Country finds Robert Mitchum as a gunslinger, a pistolero working for the local Mexican governor Pedro Armendariz. He had to flee Texas years ago after a shooting and Armendariz gave him shelter and work.
Despite that Mitchum is sent across the border on a gun buying trip. Unfortunately he takes a bad fall from a horse and winds up with a broken leg. While on the mend in that bordertown and after, Mitchum finds himself in a series of situations that call him to question what he's been doing and just where he can call home.
One of those situations is Julie London, wife of army major Gary Merrill who's got a bit of a past herself. She throws quite a few complications in Mitchum's past.
The Wonderful Country is a nicely put together western shot on location in Durango. It was one of the first westerns to use that town in Mexico, a whole lot more in the sixties would follow.
Besides those already mentioned the performances to watch for in this film are those of Charles McGraw as the frontier doctor and that of Satchel Paige as the cavalry sergeant. A year later John Ford would come out with Sergeant Rutledge about a black cavalry sergeant and the men around him, but I do believe that baseball immortal Satchel Paige was the first in Hollywood to portray a black cavalry man in a major motion picture.
McGraw is something else. He's the doctor who tends to Mitchum's broken leg and befriends him, but then gets one big pang of jealousy about Julie London that leads to tragedy. In real life McGraw was as much the hellraiser as he is in the film.
The Wonderful Country had the good fortune to be partially scripted by Tom Lea so his vision of the characters in his own novel remained pretty much intact. This was the only one of two novels by that writer/artist to be filmed.
That's as good a reason as any to see a very fine western.
Despite that Mitchum is sent across the border on a gun buying trip. Unfortunately he takes a bad fall from a horse and winds up with a broken leg. While on the mend in that bordertown and after, Mitchum finds himself in a series of situations that call him to question what he's been doing and just where he can call home.
One of those situations is Julie London, wife of army major Gary Merrill who's got a bit of a past herself. She throws quite a few complications in Mitchum's past.
The Wonderful Country is a nicely put together western shot on location in Durango. It was one of the first westerns to use that town in Mexico, a whole lot more in the sixties would follow.
Besides those already mentioned the performances to watch for in this film are those of Charles McGraw as the frontier doctor and that of Satchel Paige as the cavalry sergeant. A year later John Ford would come out with Sergeant Rutledge about a black cavalry sergeant and the men around him, but I do believe that baseball immortal Satchel Paige was the first in Hollywood to portray a black cavalry man in a major motion picture.
McGraw is something else. He's the doctor who tends to Mitchum's broken leg and befriends him, but then gets one big pang of jealousy about Julie London that leads to tragedy. In real life McGraw was as much the hellraiser as he is in the film.
The Wonderful Country had the good fortune to be partially scripted by Tom Lea so his vision of the characters in his own novel remained pretty much intact. This was the only one of two novels by that writer/artist to be filmed.
That's as good a reason as any to see a very fine western.
Wusstest du schon
- WissenswertesBoth Henry Fonda and Gregory Peck were first approached to star, but turned down the role. When Robert Mitchum came on board, he also served as executive producer.
- PatzerIn the final shootout, Martin Brady shoots six times with his six-gun. Then he walks over to his wounded horse and shoots it without reloading.
- Zitate
Helen Colton: What a pity then, that life is what we do, and not just what we feel.
- VerbindungenFeatured in Heiße Ware - Kalte Füsse (1965)
Top-Auswahl
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Details
- Laufzeit1 Stunde 38 Minuten
- Farbe
- Seitenverhältnis
- 1.66 : 1
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