The Ceremony

In a surprise during the opening credits, you'll learn the leading man in The Ceremony also directed it: Laurence Harvey. I don't know why he was drawn to such a strange story, but perhaps he wanted to pair it with equally strange direction. His angles and framing were odd (or, if you want to be kind, avant-garde), but it's always a treat to see an actor try his hand at a role behind the camera.

The plot features Larry as a convict on death row in South America. He was in a bank robbery, and although he didn't commit the murder, he's given an unusually harsh punishment for being an accessory. As the clock ticks down until his firing squad, his younger brother Robert Walker Jr. And his girlfriend Sarah Miles try to execute their plot to break him out of prison. It involves impersonating a priest, a seduction, and a flat tire. Incredibly simple, and you would think that in 1963, prison break movies would be a bit more complex.

Sarah's acting style always grates on my nerves, since she stammers around as if she's frightened of speaking her next line. Her perpetually wide eyes don't seem to hold much expression, but thankfully, she's not the lead. Larry certainly gives his all in this movie, so if you want to watch it, it had better be because you're a Laurence Harvey fan. The conclusion is a bit obvious, so strictly as a prison break drama, I wouldn't really recommend it.

When I saw this in the sixties it really made me realize the breadth of acting ability of Ross Martin. I had only seen him in roles of the comedic sidekick prior to this role. His believability as the evil commandant was astounding. This made the movie for me.

Dismissed by the late David Shipman as "a pretentious plea against capital punishment" and now disinterred by the wonder that is Talking Pictures. Boasting a truly extraordinary international cast, shot in kafkaesque black & white by Ossie Morris and full of ripe one-liners, it's just the film you'd expect Lawrence Harvey to have directed.

If you didn't know this was a Spain/US production, you'd think it was a timeless fable: there are so few localized contexts. The supporting actors delineate themselves sharply, but Laurence Harvey steals the show, as always, with his intensity (check out his work in Tamiko, a neurotic romance set in Japan), and compounds this by directing with intensity: the camera is always zooming into people's faces from above, below, and sideways. It's dizzying. That said, the movie's worth seeing. All praise to early 60's B&W films.

Some of the best lighting and cinematography I can remember ever seeing .....;slightly surreal.

Remarkable characters ... very beautiful people.

No terrible background music... at least very little ...