Honored in hindsight for zero budget fare like DETOUR/’45 and BLUEBEARD/’44, 'Poverty Row' films of conviction & personal vision that feel like technical dares, Edgar G. Ulmer should also be remembered for a brief run in the late ‘40s when he was a go-to helmer for tidy mainstream fare that only looked expensive. This swashbuckler, made right after RUTHLESS/’48*, the best of these films, is a SCARLET PIMPERNEL wannabe, made on a dime in post-war Italy. Louis Hayward, something of a Ulmer regular, has the equivalent Leslie Howard spot, hiding heroics as the notorious Captain Sirocco under the guise of foppish court favorite Count Amalfi. And, unlike Howard’s Pimpernel, Hayward’s double-act used to help the Queen and enable freedom fighting Naples’ revolutionaries. With a cast of dozens believably passing as thousands, and a multi-national cast dubbed to speak Mid-Atlantic English, there’s also quality lensing from Anchise Brizzi (just off CHARTERHOUSE OF PARMA/’48) and a Nino Rota score that might be Alfred Newman in Tyrone Power mode. The big set piece an impressive parallel action romp between fancy dress court ballet and armed jail break of condemned patriots triumphs over budgetary constrictions. Ulmer can’t do much to lend focus or voice to a first act that’s literally & figuratively all at sea, but a pretty good show all the same. If only better prints were available.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: *As mentioned, RUTHLESS/’48; along with DETOUR/’45. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2014/01/ruthless-1948.html https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2012/09/detour-1945.html
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