La colère de Dieu

A tongue in cheek ,very funny "western" -although it features plenty of death-),not as tragic as Nelson's more famous "soldier blue" .A good chemistry between the three mates ,even though Mitchum is obviously the stand out.I did not go to confession for years ,but if I had a "priest " like him,well....His words are often Bunuelesque ,recalling "Nazarin"(1958) when he talks about the stranglehold the wealthy ones have on religion.In spite of the presence of a positive catholic character (Rita Hayworth's last part,her next-to-last was a strange French movie where she played the role (sadly premonitory)of a woman losing her mind "La Route De Salina" ),it is a very unfriendly look at the catholic Church,not exactly a Hollywoodian politically correct one.

The scene of the execution when the screen becomes completely black ("and it has not taken three days !say one of the condemned persons)is memorable ;and the title is thoroughly justified in the last scene when God's hand punishes the heathen .

It's been my experience that many times,reviewers of this strange gem have been puzzled or turned off by the strange plot and readings that the players have provided.This is NOT just a standard western,with rebels trying to overthrow a tyrant.This is a parody of every flm cliche of that particular vintage.Mitchum is doing a burlesque of Bogart or any other reluctant hero fighting a tyrany.Langella is doing Jay Robinson's psychotic Caligula from "The Robe"or"demetrius and the Gladiators".Hayworth is every suffering mother,Colicos is every sly villain,and buono is having the time of his life and career as a virtuoso impersonator of Sydney Greenstreet.Get this film,make lots of popcorn,plenty of beverages,and enjoy.

Not everyone agrees that this a parody. I have read that the film turned out confusing because of problems on the set. Including, Rita Hayworth's Alzheimer's and an actor who had a part for the first six weeks of filming. He was severly injured and couldn't complete his part properly. Therefore the confusion. Everyone wanted to just forget the whole thing but they released it anyway. All wasn't lost however, I personally found it very unique and intriguing. And as a Mitchum fan a rare, wonderful find on the classic movie channel.

It's a revolutionary central American country in 1920s. Oliver Van Horne (Robert Mitchum) is dressed as a priest. Irishman Emmet Keogh (Ken Hutchison) buys a ticket to anywhere to escape the growing unrest but it gets stolen. He encounters men loyal to revolutionary leader Colonel Santilla (John Colicos). He tries to rescue mute native girl Chela from them only to get strung up and then they're both rescued by Van Horne. They are captured by Santilla. The two imprisoned men and immoral gunrunner Jennings are recruited to assassinate his opponent Thomas De La Plata (Frank Langella) who is using a mine for his war chest. Rita Hayworth plays De La Plata's mother.

This has the Peckinpahesque violence like shooting a kid in the back. It's like a spaghetti western. The motivations are a little clunky. There are some compelling characters although Hutchison may not be leading man material. His looks is more towards villainous henchman. It's also notable for being Hayworth's last film. Her role is very much supporting and most compelling for the name. The Mexican location is great and the local colors are enticing. This is a fine B-movie.

The Wrath Of God is a kind of parody on the films Robert Mitchum was so routinely cast in back in the Forties and Fifties and even later on which he was doing know for a good paycheck. It's funny in spots, but ultimately doesn't quite come off.

Humphrey Bogart's The Left Hand Of God is the closest comparison one can make to this film. Bogart is also an adventurer in priestly disguise who aids a Chinese village during Kuomintang China days.

The Wrath Of God has Mitchum as a priest who is also a conman and handy with a variety of weapons, particularly the Thompson submachine gun. He, Victor Buono and Kenneth Hutcherson form an alliance of convenience which wasn't easy with Buono and Hutcherson refighting all the recent troubles in Ireland.

They get impressed into service by a strutting Colonel played by John Colicos whose behavior and that of his troops doesn't inspire a whole lot of confidence that Colicos's bunch are the good guys. Colicos has to get inside the stronghold of a wealthy Don played by a young Frank Langella in one of his earliest films. Colicos is no prize, but Langella is positively psychotic, especially on the subject of religion. In his domain he's forbade the Catholic Church and any of its priests from any practice of the religion. He's got his reasons, but they're kind of out in left field to say the least. Mitchum's convincing guise a priest might just draw him out.

The Wrath Of God marked the final screen appearance of Rita Hayworth who got the film as an act of charity by Mitchum according to the Lee Server biography of Mitchum. Hayworth was having financial problems and was drinking heavily. Little did anyone realize that the reason for her bad behavior which occasionally got reported in the press back then was the onset of Alzheimer's Disease. The woman was drinking literally because she was losing her mind. She caused a lot of production delays. A truly sad end to the woman who in my humble opinion was the greatest screen sex goddess of all.

What delays Rita Hayworth didn't cause Ken Hutcherson did with an accident which injured his arm and the insurance had to pay big bucks. The film was delayed by several weeks while Hutcherson healed and as Server put in his book, the insurance company wound up owning the film.

They didn't wind up owning Gone With The Wind.