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Thursday, August 12, 2010

Shout At The Devil (1976)

Peter Hunt (ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE) directs this action adventure set in pre WWI Tanganyika with overtones of THE AFRICAN QUEEN. An American expatriate (Lee Marvin) cons a British aristocrat (Roger Moore) into helping him poach elephant tusks. After a German battleship sinks their boat, Marvin takes Moore back to his home where he falls in love with the American’s daughter (Barbara Parkins) shortly before WWI breaks out and violent circumstances pull them into it against their will. It’s an uneasy mix of broad comedy and high adventure with Marvin shamelessly mugging as if he’d seen too many Victor McLaglen movies and the shocking deliberate killing of an infant dampens whatever attempts at humor that follows. Ian Holm as Marvin’s Arab servant mugs nearly as much as Marvin and he plays a mute! The score by Maurice Jarre does what it can to whip up the excitement but the air of familiarity is difficult to disguise. With Rene Kolldehoff, Jean Kent, Maurice Denham, Murray Melvin, George Coulouris and Karl Michael Vogler.

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