Strangers at Sunrise

As the summary line above says, this is a western, despite taking place in Africa during the Boer war. Nothing immediately wrong with that - I love westerns, as a matter of fact. But even this western fan had trouble sitting through this! It gets to a good start, but as soon as Montgomery makes his escape and settles down, so does the movie shortly afterwards. From that point on until near the end, it's just the characters doing the same few things over and over. And those "few things" are nothing new, nor done in a particularly interesting way.

Not actively awful - just flat and unsurprising. It's not surprising therefore that this movie is about impossible to see (at least in North America.)

As the earlier reviewer stated, this has the look and feel of an American "western" that's been transported to southern Africa during the Boer War. (The presence of a boy looking up to the stranger who's arrived at his family's farm - a farm called "Sunrise" - easily calls up memories of "Shane.") However, the plot falls more into the lines of "The Desperate Hours" as the farm is invaded and taken over by three deserters from the British army. Things follow predictably, (and a bit sketchily), from this point.

George Montgomery, in the twilight of his long career, plays the "Shane" character and he has two "beefcake" scenes which effectively show off his sweaty, unshaven chest. Romantic interest is supplied by Deana Martin, daughter of Dean Martin, but there's little chemistry between her and the much-older Montgomery.