Congotanga - Refúgio de Proscritos

As an antidote to the sweetness of "The African Queen," try this raunchy little rough-and-ready tale in which a passel of sleazy bums from Europe and America sort out their differences in and around the Congo, while decent African citizens just try to get on with things. Peter Lorre is radiant as the chief bum, a combination Capt. Renault/Ugarte character in a natty gold braided uniform who rules by dint of outclassing everybody.

Reading that Universal got Virginia Mayo's services for Congo Crossing in exchange for Rock Hudson going to Warner Brothers I was stunned and thinking in baseball terms. The biggest one sided deal I had ever heard of since the Mets parted with Nolan Ryan to the Angels for Jim Fregosi. The cast didn't even get the benefit of a nice African location shoot.

Shot in the Botanical Gardens of Los Angeles this routine action adventure film has Virginia Mayo as a socialite on the run and George Nader an engineer on a surveying mission.

They're both at a real sleazy town in the French Congo where Peter Lorre runs a rather loose enforcement policy. There's also Michael Pate who is a hit man contracted to get Mayo.

Nader's mission to survey the place as the Congo River boundaries have changed and find out whether Lorre's jurisdiction of Congotanga is in the French or Belgian Congo. The ambiguity of the situation causes concern for all and it's made Congotanga the wide open place it is. Everyone wants to know, but many don't want the knowledge to go public.

In this is a very nice portrayal from Rex Ingram of a black doctor running a hospital. Which colonial power he lives under is of little concern to him. He knows the white man will be gone soon enough, but while he's there he wants what he needs to run his hospital.

Congo Crossing is a below average action adventure film. Must George Nader ever have envied Rock Hudson.

Same kind of intrigue as the Michael Curtiz's film, a mix up of exotic adventre and espionage yarn, intrigue, with good action scenes. It is full of charm of the fifties, and I thought about a Paramount film instead of Universal, because the Mountainl logo film company was more specialized in exotoc features, starring for instance John Payne and Rhonda Fleming or Arlene Dahl, directed by the likes of Lewis Foster or Edward Ludwig, than Universal, the science fiction and western oriented studio. Not my favourite from Jo Pevney who was a complete director: westerns, adventure - many with Jeff Chandler - crime; never any horror nor science fiction though. This one deserves to be seen at least once, for your knowledge.

Congotanga, a criminal colony on the western border of the then Belgian Congo, is a magnet for various fugitives from justice the world over. The law is nominally represented by Colonel Arragas (Peter Lorre) but the real power lies in the hands of shady types like Rittner (Tonio Selwart).

David Carr (George Nader), who has been hired to carry out a river survey on behalf of the Belgian mining concerns, sets off down the river accompanied by Louise Whitman (Virginia Mayo), a one time model running from a murder rap in France, and O'Connell (Michael Pate), a hitman - his target is Louise.

Beset by tsetse flies, crocodiles and the murderous attentions of Rittner's henchmen, the party has more than its share of hazards to navigate

Ravishing Virginia Mayo spices up this jungle adventure that passes the time adequately- she plays a woman of mystery, cold and sharp tongued, and of course, her relationship with George Nader's character comes off to a shaky start, then changes and they become lovers. Michael Pate plays the villain. It's adequately acted, there's some slow parts and some lively portion with some decent action.

It Couldn't fits better instead Congo Crossing than Brazilian title Congotanga-Hideaway of Outcasts, where every single murder, outlaws and crooks finding shelter in this smallest fictional African country running away from authorities if bordering with Belgian Congo, due Congotanga didn't assign any extradition law, turns out that a powerful mining company hires a geographer David Carr (George Nader) to certify if the confluence of both rivers didn't change the real river's course that would changing the frontier between Congotanga and Belgian Congo.

Meanwhile landing there from airplane a gorgeous former model Louise (Virginia Mayo) accused to murder his lover in Paris having a pulpy reward for his beauty head, guess who is the law officer there? Nothing less than the dubious Col. Arragas (Peter Lorre), then as expected each fifteen minutes a death corpse lays out somewhere, as that famous music assures "Peter Lorre contemplating a crime", it's looks like a little bit CASABLANCA in peace period, anyway has many crook men interesting in what's David Carr's work conclusion corcerning the border.

All the while a local Doc Gorman (Rex Ingram) hardly struggles against the tropical deceases over the poorest local natives waiting for medicines often stolen by the smuggler Carr Ritmer (Tonio Selwart) and his gang, in this fear atmosphere the picture unfolds, it's a lowest budge from Universal International release, full of mismatches, tons of clichés and so for, however it's an enjoyable adventure entertainment at the extent to it became at once one's my guilty pleasure pictures, it never was released in any format in Brazil.

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First watch: 1997 / How many: 4 / Source: TV-DVD-R / Rating: 6.25.