La fière tzigane

It is for me the best Roy William Neill's film besides some Sherlock Holmes movies such as SCARLET CLAW. That said it is a splendid adventure movie in the line of Robin Hood material: medieval, settings, character symphony, overall scheme concerning the topic. Maria Montez is excellent as a gypsy woman and Jon Hall unforgettable too, as usual in his other features. It is colorful, action packed, the intrigue not that surprising, but who would be idiot enough to expect anything different from a Hollywood stuff? I always enjoy all those Maria Montez Jon Hall's films, a forever lost charm. Irrepplaceable.

This is wild splendid entertainment all the way with no chance for anyone to catch his breath. In a way it is a romantic masterpiece showing off every instance of the Hollywood treasury of magnificent colours and clothes, dances and songs, gypsy carnivals of shows and festivities and an overwhelming good humour all the way. Of course, you recognise most of the wild west settings with furious rides through creeks and lush romantic valleys all over California, but the stage is supposed to be Romania with a spectacular castle crowning the landscape where a very wicked baron keeps forging his intrigues, and a flamboyant love story at the centre of the raving action with one beautiful gipsy girl coveted by three men, of which two eventually die, leaving the door open to the real lovers to live happily ever after - this is Hollywood swashbuckler entertainment at its very best with every possible ingredient enriching the stew and filling it up with gorgeous splendour. They could make films like this even without Errol Flynn, Tyrone Power, Douglas Fairbanks and all the other super heroes. You will find nothing missing here.

In an unspecified Renaissance kingdom, no sooner has Anube's gypsy tribe encamped near Baron Tovar's village Count Orso is found murdered- Carla, a gorgeous gypsy girl comes to the aid of a stranger named Michael (Hall) after he discovers a body and is ultimately accused of murder by Baron Tovar (Douglass Dumbrille).

The Baron spots Carla's heraldic pendant which gives him reason to believe she's the long-lost heiress to the dead man's estate, which Tovar has claimed for his own. Getting rid of Michael not only deflects blame but removes competition for Carla's hand in marriage -- and the estate which comes with her.

Filled with action, romance and drama, Gypsy Wildcat features lush locations, beautiful costumes, great set-pieces and solid performances. The pace and melodramatics doesn't let up, and the sheer escapism soaked in Technicolor just sucks you in. The villainy by Douglas Dumbrille adds enough menace, though his death was too sudden and odd. A little swordplay would have been nice. Plenty of chases, though. Jon Hall, who here resembles Tyrone Power, makes a likeable hero and Maria Montez sizzles as always - the camera really loves her!

Gypsy Wildcat has both the pluses and minuses usually associated with the type of unsophisticated but colourful adventures associated with the Universal screen team of Maria Montez and Jon Hall.

The story line is incredibly lame (incredible than James M. Cain is somehow associated with it), with many of the attempts at humour painful, at best. On the other hand, a good print of this film can truly be a visual joy. This silly film about gypsies and corrupt barons has rich Technicolor and is consistently a pleasure for the eye.

And that includes the cast. Maria Montez was a beauty, no doubt, and even if no one will ever accuse her of being a good actress, somehow her exotic appeal, flashing eyes and grade school dialogue delivery seem very right for this kind of campy material.

Jon Hall, whose career highlight as an actor was seven years before when John Ford guided him to an effective performance in The Hurricane, looks dashing, in an Errol Flynn-kind of way, though he certainly lacked Flynn's flair and personality. As long as he isn't dressed as a clown (which, incredibly, he actually is in a couple of scenes), he's a decent leading man.

The film's second noteworthy virtue, along with its rich Technicolor and two stars, is an above average supporting cast of character actors. Peter Coe, as a gypsy in love with Montez and always helping her, doesn't make much of an impression. Leo Carrillo and Gale Sondergaard both look good, at least, even if their roles aren't much.

Douglass Dumbrille is his usual smarmy self as the film's chief villain, an autocratic official imprisoning the gypsies, but offering them their freedom if gypsy wildcat Montez will marry him. But the best of all comes when the film is nearing its end, with the typically endearing and bumbling performance of Nigel Bruce. Bruce brings this film its most successful moments of humour, and it's a joy to watch the man best remembered today as Dr. Watson in the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films as he pretty much steals every scene he's in.

I'm happy to report that Gypsy Wildcat has a genuinely exciting climax, with director Roy William Neill (or was it a second unit director?) bringing a sense of fun and zest to a wild coach chase sequence. The sequence is also partially played for laughs, with hero Hall on horseback pursuing the coach, while inside that coach a bumbling Nigel Bruce is trying to marry Montez to Dumbrille.

The sequence is quite beautifully edited, as well as photographed and if what precedes it is not exactly the stuff of a Michael Curtiz epic over at Warner Brothers, this sequence partially compensates for that.

Overall, for those who enjoy unsophisticated undemanding adventure films of this kind, Gypsy Wildcat will probably satisfy them. It's a colourful time waster and an escape, which was, after all, its original intention when it was first released for 1944 wartime audiences. In that respect, the film still succeeds.

Maria Montez is the queen of her gypsy tribe. When Douglas Dumbrille kills the local baron and assumes the dignity of tat rank, he blame it on the anonymous Jon Hall, who seeks refuge with te gypsies. The nominal leader, Leo Carrillo is quite happy to turn Hall over, but he is overruled by Miss Montez, who loves him with a passion only a wild gypsy can understand.

I don't think anyone involved in this movie took it in the least seriously, especially when the big ending comes and it's perpetually befuddled Nigel Bruce who has to work his wobbly way into revealing the secret that Dumbrille and the audience have figured out long before. The story, which veers from Scaramouche to the girl with the mysterious locket which proves her noble birth -- and which looks like the radiator cap off a Cadillac. There are some good stunts, and nice Technicolor images by Howard Green and George Robinson.+ Universal knew they had a winning combination in Hall and Miss Montez, so they allowed director Roy William Neill to turn this into a comedy.