A História de um Homem Mau

This unusual 'Western' is all a bit of mess. But some of the ingredients are rather tasty and juicy and so, it is actually quite enjoyable.

John Mills, as the priest, supposedly Irish but who's accent is only about 10% that, does OK but doesn't shine. Apparently Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift were first choices for his part. And on set, he didn't get on with arch rival desperado outlaw, Dirk Bogarde - and it shows.

Bogarde's high-camp dandy of an outlaw would make you laugh if this film wasn't so serious. To many, the ongoing religiosity - I won't go so far to say 'sermonising' between the Church (Catholic, in this case) - could be a turn-off.

I was trying to place the film's setting, period wise but can't find mention of it but would guess 1930-40s and a remote village in Mexico (actually Spain). Aside of its two English leads and the above, the final third in the triangle is a beautiful blonde French young actress, Mylene Demongeot. As I said, quite a mish-mash that makes a tastier dish than it should.

Trying to simplify the plot, I'll say that Mills takes over from another priest who is disenchanted and can't wait to get out. Mills, the idealist and good-doer can't believe him when he says that the Church is hated in the village, led by the local gangster, Bogarde. This desperado punishes any that assist or even go to church. Demongeot is the daughter of a local man who helps the priest. Apparently, she's in love with Mills, who presumes it's Bogarde that is her crush.

One day, a drunk man who Mills prays for comes to his lodgings after and tries to kill him. Bogarde saves his life and shoots the man, dead. The police, who have never had anything concrete to nail the crook on, try to arrest him but not only does Mills neither hand him over but absolves his sins. Thinking that he has redeemed an evil man....

And so it goes on. The girl is beautiful and nice to look at, Bogarde struts around gamely like a peacock and Mills is reliably nice.

The title - one of its strong points - refers to the man (the priest) rather than his song (Church, The Bible) as Bogarde came to have respect and admiration for Mills, rather than what he stood for.

The direction is a bit stodgy and as I saw it on commercial TV, it was cut up by frequent ads and in 4:3 ratio. And soft. And long, at 2.5 hours (on ITV)

Another of these movies where Dirk Bogarde got lost.Why on earth did he have to get involved in that business?The screenplay has enormous pretensions and suggests homosexual tendencies between the priest and the all dressed-in-black Bogarde as well as a love which blonde Mylène Demongeot feels for the same priest!which is a bit too much!Luis Bunuel could have got away with it,but the director here is not in the same league.The screenplay is incoherent and the three leads are finally unconvincing.The title is absurd (Bogarde likes the singer (the priest?) but not his song(his Christian message?).It was also to be a Rolling Stone song with a nice dulcimer arrangement by Brian JOnes in the mid-sixties.

But here Bogarde's fans can have a look,but be warned:it's the actor,not the movie.

This movie leaves so many various impressions on a viewer, it is impossible to form a final opinion. To begin with, it is a British western, with two great British actors in the leads. Then, there is the actress, looking quite like Bardot. And then, even the atmosphere reminded me of "Et Dieu... crea la femme" in certain scenes (Bogarde called it camp, and you can see why). During certain scenes you are thinking that it will go the way of other movies with similar plot ("Satan never sleeps" is an example), ending in infinite praise of the religion, without measure or sense. But then it turns the other way and surprises you. And in the end you come to see that even some deep religious deeds can be interpreted as acts of latent homosexual love... I know it sound bad but, somehow, unlike modern movies, the topic is introduced subtly. Anyway, you should see it yourself and decide whether you like it or not...

The Rank Organisation presents a thought-provoking film , a Roy Baker production , as one of Britain's most solid stylists and released by Rank film distributors limited . It concerns on Father Michael Keogh (John Mills , his third of several works with Baker) , a priest who has been given welcome by Father Gomez (Leslie French), whom he then replaces to a Mexican village after the Revolution . The village is submitted by Anacleto Comachi (Dirk Bogarde) dressed in dark and usually on horse , with its cowardly residents hiding in the houses . Eventually, the priest assists them in regaining their confidence and defending themselves . Anacleto regularly attacks the village and steal all their supplies . Comachi is twenty nine years old and natural son and was born a countrywoman . Father Michael takes on Anacleto who murders people with alphabetic names , beginning D and going on E, F.. Meanwhile , the rich owner's daughter (Mylene Demengeot) falls in love with Comachi.

From the novel by Audrey Erskine written by Nigel Balchin , this British picture is an interesting drama that carries a genuine charge of intelligence with exciting battle of wits between an upright priest and a nasty outlaw . It deals with people living on the edges of themselves and their resourcefulness , a recurring issue in Roy Baker's work . The picture bears remarkable resemblance to ¨Guns of San Sebastian (1968)¨ by Henry Verneuil also with a priest-though false- played by Anthony Quinn who arrives in village being harassed by an evil enemy played by Charles Bronson . A Cinemascope picture in glimmer color processed by the Rank laboratories (Denham) limited, England and well photographed by Otto Heller B.S.C . Good Production Manager by Denis Holt with nice Production design by Vetchinsky made on location in Torremolinos , Malaga, Spain and at Pinewood Studios, London .

The motion picture is professionally directed in Western style by Roy Baker , though contains up and downs with an amazing final . Baker emerged in post-wars years as one of the best Brit filmmakers and ahead of his time in editing techniques , working even in Hollywood, right from his initial American film titled ¨Inferno¨ with Robert Ryan and as ¨Don't bother to knock¨ with Marilyn Monroe . His movies also achieved some of the most important popular successes of the English cinema in the 50s and 60s, including ¨Morning departure¨ ,¨The one that got away¨ and the better film about Titanic tragedy as ¨A night to remember ¨ and at TV as ¨Sherlock Holmes , The Champions , the Saint , and the Avengers¨ . On his return to the cinema in the 60s billed as Roy Ward baker , he no longer seemed the same filmmaker and indeed directed entirely different kind of subjects , mainly terror movies as ¨Quatermass and the pit¨, ¨Vampire lovers¨, ¨Asylum¨ ¨Legend of seven golden vampires among others¨ . Rating : acceptable and passable

I saw this movie in 1961 at the army base in Schofield Barracks and was struck by its import. I was an eternal optimist and had a very naive faith that God was in control. The movie really shook me out of this blind faith. That night I sat on my bunk and meditated on this dilemma and asked that I be restored or lead to a reality of truth. I was certain that I would be in battle soon and wanted to experience a sense of truth before this happened. I only went to the movie out of boredom and was not expecting the impact it made on me. The title says it all. I was struck by the simple plot. The actors who were unknown to me provided a great contrast of what is good and evil. The actress was simply beautiful and I always wondered why I had never seen her in anything after that. The love shown between the desperado and the priest was very touching.