Jogando com a Sorte

I recorded "The Big Boodle" when it played on TCM and expected to see a "train wreck" of a movie based on articles and books I have read. I was most pleasantly surprised to see a very entertaining film. I thought that Errol Flynn and the supporting cast were uniformly good. Errol again showed what a great star and actor he really was. The plot was plausible and the pace of the movie moved right along. I am surprised by the negative reviews. "The Big Boodle" is a more substantial film than many more critically acclaimed films... and,by that,I mean mainstream movies that are supposedly "A" quality. Errol brings a worldly weariness appropriate to his role. I was surprised to see how fit he appeared and how involved he was in his portrayal. I believe that he would have been magnificent as Rhett Butler in "Gone With The Wind" which he lost reportedly, due to Betty Davis' refusal to make that movie with him in the leading role. "The Big Boodle" shows what a serious and outstanding actor he was in even a modestly budgeted film

It is maybe not the actual last movie where Errol Flynn played but certainly the last where he shined. His last stand, and not in a swashbuckler nor adventure movie but somewhat a film noir set in Havana. I won't add more than the other viewers have already said, but I was very pleased to see this movie, where Flynn's characters' name is Sherwood....Doesn't that name talk to you, especially concerning former so famous Robin Hood, bandit of Sherwood forest? That's the first thing that hit me when I read the cast, and no one seems to have noticed that. of course that's not the main thing to remember from this delightful film, but I just wanted to point it out.

For fans of Errol Flynn, this is a rather tough film to watch. That's because after a lifetime of wild living and booze, the once handsome actor looks pretty lousy for a 48 year-old. He's puffy, flat and lacks the spark and charm that made him a matinée favorite in previous decades. Here, he's just "phoning it in" in a low-budget and rather dull film and it's only of much interest to fans with morbid curiosity or who want to see every film this star made.

The story has Flynn playing a lowly blackjack dealer in a Cuban casino--quite a comedown compared to other characters he'd played in the past. While it is interesting to see street scenes of pre-Castro Cuba, the rest of the film is a dull affair concerning Errol being tossed, quite innocently, into a bunch of murderous counterfeiters. Because he was no longer the glamorous hero, he spends most of the film being beaten up and hassled. The best fight for him is at the end when he barely manages to beat up a doughboy-like villain. Not exactly CAPTAIN BLOOD or ROBIN HOOD--it's really a shame Flynn's final films are generally of this low quality.

For a touch of exotic atmosphere only 90 miles from the shores of the USA in a part of the world that shares a common Spanish Colonial heritage with much of the United States, you can view "The Big Boodle". The movie lacks depth but the atmospherics and locales of 1957 Havana are effective, and filmed with fine black and white cinematography.

Errol Flynn stars and looks every inch the movie star, although he appears thin and tired. Nevertheless he summons enough energy to move at a good pace- in fact the overall action moves at a rather fast pace, especially toward the end. Flynn's star quality was still intact although fading rapidly, and he is able to function well enough to carry the film.

Flynn portrays a croupier with a sketchy past who is thrust into some really heavy criminal goings-on. He is believable in the role and his acting (as always) is good. Gia Scala is OK as a young woman involved. Ms.Scala was one of the most remarkably beautiful women ever on film- its regrettable that her startling eyes cannot be shown here in color. Rosanna Rory is a cast member who is relatively obscure but is basically a capable Euro actress of the era. Pedro Armendariz is perfect as the cagey police chief. He was one of the finest screen actors ever and he is superb in this movie. Leading man type Carlos Rivas who you might recognize from the classic 50's monster film "Giant Scorpion" is also well-cast as a reckless and ambitious young Cuban.

Authentic atmospherics of pre-Castro Cuba, some decent acting, and the brisk pace will probably overcome any reservations you may experience from Flynn's obvious weariness and the B-movie nature of this film. I found it to be an entertaining departure into the long lost era of Errol Flynn and of late-50's Cuba.

The Big Boodle (1957)

Errol Flynn is most known for his swashbuckling pizazz in the 1930s, of course, but as his career dwindled he became embroiled in all kinds of controversies, including sleeping with underage girls, sympathizing with the Nazis, and becoming drinking buddies with Fidel Castro.

The last of these matters here, for "The Big Boodle" might be the first film made entirely in Cuba by a US film company, and Flynn is clearly at home. Two years later he would make a now famous odd film, "Cuban Rebel Girls," where he befriends the rebels in their uprising. So this is an important precursor, and it's truly interesting in many ways. It's a crime film with shades of a late film noir infecting most of it. Flynn plays an American who gets in trouble, and has to go it alone with a couple of dangerous women around him. Classic noir stuff. But of course it's late in the cycle, just before "Touch of Evil" which is the symbolic end to the classic noir era.

So there are lots of scenes outside in Havana (great architecture and American cars), some cuban music (nothing totally memorable), and a general mood of that amazing pre-Castro era where Americans and Cubans mixed like oil, water, and rum. For that alone it's worth seeing. But it's worth saying the Flynn is actually terrific in his role as a tired but determined American out to clear his name and save his life.

The other key player in this whole enterprise (a low budget movie with big budget looks) is the cinematographer Lee Garmes, a true veteran and the man who shot "Detective Story" and "Caught" which are both cinematically brilliant. Garmes and Flynn make an unlikely collaboration (and I have no idea whether they were friends) but they make this movie actually rather workable. Is it

"When you want something done right, you do it yourself." IN a way that's what these filmmakers did. The story is the biggest hurdle--there isn't much to worry about or get involved in as it goes. Even the final climax at a famous old fort above town is more about the photography and movement of characters than any sense of who might shoot who.

A curiosity and not a waste of time, but nothing remarkable.