Brucey D
Based on a Hammond Innes novel, this 1957 colour production is a good deal better film than its current 6.3 score on IMDB would suggest. The film is beautifully shot (with the Italian Dolomites substituting for Alberta) and mostly ably acted by a good cast. It is that rare thing, an action/adventure film that all the family can enjoy. The plot revolves around a race against time for a dying man (Bogarde) to drill for oil before his grandfather's land is flooded by dam belonging to a mining corporation, with baddie Stanley Baker pulling every dirty trick going to stop him.When I first saw the film, I was, as others have commented, less than convinced by the mixture of accents on offer. But upon reflection, Canada at that time -especially in any boom industry- was full of immigrants from all over the world. I also thought James Robertson Justice's accent was a bit weird, but I've since heard natives from that part of Scotland for real, and it is not so far off as I originally thought.In summary this film is not at all bad, well worth watching.
dan.adams
Well, my old mother in law enjoyed it! I've given it a 5 because of the confusion it created(pour moi).Campbell's Kingdom is up there,in the Rockies.Nearby,a construction gang have built a dam-for hydro-electricity.The plan is to allow water to flow over the dam and into CK.Where they are finding oil. The construction team are into sabotage of the well diggers efforts.I got all that.It was when an inclinator was used to go up to the CK land I got confused.This mountain climbing device took us up into the snowy peaks of the Rockies.Where the prospective oil field was. Where then,was the dam that would flood the oil field?Well,it must have been even higher! It just didn't make sense.Later scenes showed the dam breaking and doing a bit of flooding.It was well and truly above the oil field. A rousing matinée tale but hard to digest geographically.
jeuk
I remember the praise being heaped on this film as well as on Dirk Bogard when it was first released. I was about nine years old, and never got to see this spectacle at that time. I saw it for the first time on Film 4 recently, and was quite impressed with the cinematography (It was 1957 British of course), but the casting I felt left a lot to be desired. Plenty of English (and Welsh) actors, with corny Canadian accents (Syd James, who was actually South African), and a terrible accent from one I thought could deliver. James Robertson Justice's effort was terrible. In fact, at an exciting part of the plot when my old hero was barking instructions to a beleaguered cast of mis-fits, his almost falsetto pitched voice reminded me of the Goon Show Bluebottle just before he was blown up! A typical British effort of that time.
mark ouzman
Well looking at some comments I thought it prudent to add mine in the defence of a remarkable film.Unlike some location flicks and despite the efforts of dramatic scenery this film is failed by it's casting. A film about a Scot in Canada and not a Scot or Canadian accent in site!There is however a strong British cast assembled for filming abroad, a rare treat for Bogarde and co in post war austere Britain and a rare treat of course for the audience - colour! So please accept it for what it is. A rare colour British melodrama to cheer and entertain and perhaps re-awaken the declining film audience of the time.If you are one that enjoyed the old days of an old black and white TV flickering away on a Sunday afternoon playing a comfort film then this is one to watch one day.I really don't understand what James Robertson Justice is doing in this, despite his Scottish roots he performs out of character (typecasting above all is the problem here),perhaps he should have played to his strengths and played the part as a booming eccentric, a Major perhaps?!. All the rest give their best and stoic Dirk Bogarde of course is excellent!I like the warm feeling this film brings to the watcher good may or may not triumph over evil here. I leave you to watch and enjoy the really well worked climatic end. Over sentimental at the conclusion? Perhaps! Glad it was made? Definitely! Enjoy a sweet film.The end.
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