JohnHowardReid
All the acting in this South African attempt at a Hollywood Western is certainly effective. And even the South African backgrounds here have a welcome tinge of color that is certainly reminiscent of the Old West.Vincent Price enjoys a high old time as a prospector who has struck it rich and he is most ably supported by the really lovely Diana Avarson who made only a few films -- including this one set and photographed in South Africa -- even though she actually lived in Hollywood!The rest of the players -- namely the outlaws who stumble upon Price's secluded cabin also deliver effective performances.Robert D. Webb's direction is definitely a cut above his usual standard and he makes excellent use of South African locations that could well pass for the real Wide West itself!
wes-connors
In rugged South Africa, scavengers arrive from a US-styled western. The group's laconic leader is tall Robert Gunner (as Roger "Stretch" Hawkins). Mr. Gunner has a great name for westerns. He and his men find local blonde Diana Ivarson (as Wilhemina "Willie" Decker) attractive. She has a natural sway in her hips. Gunner kisses Ms. Ivarson roughly and you know they are falling in love. Her grandfather is prospector Vincent Price (as Oupa Decker). He is amusing. This is an anachronistic and unnecessary re-make of "Yellow Sky" (1948), which was an adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" (1623).*** The Jackals (11/67) Robert D. Webb ~ Robert Gunner, Diana Ivarson, Vincent Price, Patrick Mynhardt
Chase_Witherspoon
Wholesome South African western, inspired by "Yellow Sky" stars Robert Gunner as Stretch Hawkins, an essentially decent bandit who leads his gang into an all but abandoned mining town where they discover the inhabitants are the peroxide blonde sharp-shooter Ivarson and her elderly grandpa Price. The two have been mining the veins for gold dust and when Hawkins' gang get the scent, they go after the lot, despite Hawkins' making a deal with Price to take only half. Tensions run hot and predictably, the gang implodes on greed.Aside from mega-star Price, playing a gangly old-timer looking to revive a town on his lucky strike, Gunner stars as the gang's moral compass and equilibrium with his work cut out trying to prevent his men from interfering with Ivarson and fighting amongst themselves. Gunner is something of an enigma in the annals of film history, his brief career resulted in just a handful of movies (notably as stricken astronaut Landon in "The Planet of the Apes") before it abruptly ended. Ivarson looks at times like she's attempting to play a primitive form of woman, raised on gold fever without a maternal role model; to some extent, she achieves the brief. Interestingly like Gunner, Ivarson also failed to nail a film career though she did marry cult-favourite, brawny chrome-domed tough guy Bob Tessier.Some pleasant scenery of African savanna and the occasional action punctuates what is otherwise a bit of a romantic melodrama. Pretty tame, but not bad all things considered.
helpless_dancer
Almost a word for word re-make of "Yellow Sky", with a setting on another continent. No better than the original, but still worth seeing. A pleasure seeing Vincent Price in something not dealing with the walking dead or some ghostly mansion: he shone as the grizzled old prospector, Oupa.
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