Dave Rattigan

Great film. I was disappointed it was in fullscreen, where the ratio should have been 1.85:1, according to IMDB. (This was the Optimum release, btw, in the Dirk Bogarde Collection.)

The washed-out colours didn't really bother me; on the contrary, it reminded me pleasantly of the look of the P&P films of the 1940s.

Interesting decision not to have any of the Spanish characters actually speaking in a Spanish accent. It threw me at first, but I got used to it.

What really made it was the cast. Not often you get to see Michael Hordern in such a prominent role, so that was quite a pleasure. A very moving performance. Jon Whiteley is of course a legend. Next time I'm in Oxford I'm thinking of finding a way to conveniently bump into him! And I really enjoyed Cyril Cusack's performance; again, an actor you don't often get the chance to see in a (relatively) large role.

Last night's entertainment was a toss-up between this and The Sleeping Tiger, neither of which I'd seen before. I guess I chose wisely!

Btw, director Philip Leacock's an interesting character. Never heard of him before, but I see from IMDB he later went to America and spent the rest of his career directing TV shows. Put me in mind of the similar career of Sidney Hayers.

christoph404

Bogarde went back to Spain a few years later to make the western "The Singer Not the Song" He plays a Mexican bandit with an English accent! That too is dissapointingly only available in a full screen DVD format and not in its original Cinemascope ratio. I would say the two films deserve a DVD release in their original format, perhaps the original negatives are lost or there is not suitable source material to do so?