There’s an easy command in Raoul Walsh’s direction of C. S. Forester’s wildly popular British Naval saga. It’s terribly well-mannered compared to the blood, guts & heavy CGI of MASTER AND COMMANDER/'03, a more recent/realistic sea yarn, but it plays at least as well. Gregory Peck (almost shamefully handsome) takes his time putting over his characterization (Michael Redgrave did a radio version that’s spot on), but he wins you over with his usual believable decency. Virginia Mayo is less effective than she was in a similar role in THE FLAME AND THE ARROW just two years back (something’s gone off in her looks). But she’s certainly game, while the rest of the supporting cast & crew, in a production that’s otherwise all Brits (above & below the line), make for a tasty voyage, with James Robertson Justice a standout as Quist. Guy Green’s Technicolor lensing is thrillingly revived on the DVD and though you’ll spot the miniatures and camera tricks, this takes little away from the emotional charge Walsh finds in the material.
No comments:
Post a Comment