Maverick1962

I've watched Marie Windsor in roles over the course of my life but never been as impressed as I was this week watching Hellfire. She jumps off the screen playing a gunslinger and steals every scene she's in. This is a 'B' western featuring Wild Bill Elliott towards the end of his cowboy era, shot in glorious colour and with a half decent script. There are fine supporting actors like Jim Davis, Paul Fix, Denver Pyle and notably in more of a co-starring role, Forrest Tucker, who proves to be more interesting and entertaining than Wild Bill, who is something of a dour character. Elliott appeared in hundreds of films, notably westerns of the B picture variety and I'm sure I must have seen him at the Saturday Morning Pictures when I was a kid because he was so famous, I even remember there were comics that featured him. This is the first time as an older viewer that I've actually sat and watched an Elliott movie, simply because Hellfire came on tv and had good reviews.

Elliott and Tucker both end up chasing Marie Windsor as she's gunned down a man at the start of the picture. She plays Doll Brown who has a notorious reputation and on the run from the law. They both end up falling for her later but the final outcome is quite unique for a B picture and you should watch it if you like top quality classic westerns.

After seeing Marie here, after all these years again, I started to wonder why she didn't become a bigger star as she's sensational. She definitely reminded me of Barbara Stanwyck and that's a real compliment. Apparently she was considered too tall at 5'9" and they could only put her with very tall actors like Forrest Tucker here or John Wayne. She did get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the unofficial title of Queen of the B Pictures.

East of Sudan is a simple adventure movie from 1964, depicting the fall of Khartoum but without any actual falling that the viewer can discern. That's because we are only informed of it, that General Gordon is defeated and his head is displayed on a spike. Don't worry, we don't see any of that.

What footage of the battles are obviously lifted from other films as this entire production was shot in the studio. Clips of wild animals are used with back projection, allowing actors to stand in front of a screen and shoot at them or wave their arms about, amusingly I might add, it's so ineptly directed.

I thought about giving this one star but raised it to three because, strangely I enjoyed some of it. For a start there is the gorgeous Sylvia Syms at the height of her fame, that fine actor Anthony Quale who does his best with an atrocious script, Derek Fowlds who I know people remember fondly from Yes Minister on TV and little Jenny Agutter looking about ten years old but just as pretty as when she grew up, even though she's hopelessly miscast as an Indian princess with a black wig. Unfortunately her skin is white as Snow White.

It kept me watching in spite of it's flaws and making me wince from time to time as it zips along at fairly brisk pace. Children who wouldn't notice these bloopers might well enjoy it so I mustn't be too harsh although I did feel a bit sorry for Anthony Quale who deserved better material.

OK to watch with a young family on a Sunday afternoon.

I'm sure this was meant to be funny, wasn't it? No? Confusing.

I have not read Persuasion by Jane Austen but I have read Pride and Prejudice so I can tell you that this movie has little to do with Jane Austen other than the title and the names of the characters.

Within minutes of the start, there is an actress playing a Lady, as black as the ace of spades, in early 19th century England? Nothing puts me off casting more than the present trend to include people of all colours in historical films about Great Britain. I absolutely cringe when this happens. It's like including white actors playing Africans in a historic film about, say Nigeria.

The dialogue has been written as if for a modern teen film. At one stage Anne Elliott (Dakota Johnson) says to her companion, after meeting a gentleman (Asian) she likes the look of, that he's a ten? Dakota No!

I actually like Dakota Johnson a lot more than I ever liked her parents as actors so I'm not one to call her a nepo baby. She's the only reason I watched this crap and hung on to the end. I rather liked Cosmo Jarvis as Capt Wentworth too, who actually looked like he was the only actor taking this seriously. It's as if Dakota and Cosmo are in an entirely different film to the rest of the mostly black and brown actors who are all miscast for the time period, probably around 1820.

Ridiculous casting, inane dialogue, what more do you need to know? Don't bother.