La fière tzigane

This is wild splendid entertainment all the way with no chance for anyone to catch his breath. In a way it is a romantic masterpiece showing off every instance of the Hollywood treasury of magnificent colours and clothes, dances and songs, gypsy carnivals of shows and festivities and an overwhelming good humour all the way. Of course, you recognise most of the wild west settings with furious rides through creeks and lush romantic valleys all over California, but the stage is supposed to be Romania with a spectacular castle crowning the landscape where a very wicked baron keeps forging his intrigues, and a flamboyant love story at the centre of the raving action with one beautiful gipsy girl coveted by three men, of which two eventually die, leaving the door open to the real lovers to live happily ever after - this is Hollywood swashbuckler entertainment at its very best with every possible ingredient enriching the stew and filling it up with gorgeous splendour. They could make films like this even without Errol Flynn, Tyrone Power, Douglas Fairbanks and all the other super heroes. You will find nothing missing here.

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.

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!

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.