One of those films you want to be better than it is – and it
was probably fondly remembered by Spielberg and Lucas, who used elements of it
in Indiana Jones. You’ve got Charlton Heston as a swaggering fortune hunter,
wearing a leather jacket and fedora, hanging around in South America, who goes
off to find some ancient treasure.
All the elements of an exciting action film are here – a beautiful
mysterious woman (Nicole Maurey),a villain (Thomas Mitchell), a rival (Robert
Young), exotic locations and locals.
But its slow and talky. It takes 40 minutes – 40! – for the
trip to start. There’s far too much chat and not enough intrigue. Robert Young’s
character is completely wasted – is he good? Is he bad?
The drama is flat. Heston wants the treasure.Then realises
stealing treasure is bad – and hands it back. Dud 50s liberalism. I don't mind 50s liberalism if it's dramatised correctly like in
Broken Arrow - where James Stewart fell in love with an Indian, say. But that's not here. It's focused on the whites and the locals swoop in to tut-tut. There's so many singing numbers from this Peruvian artist.
A genuine disappointment.
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