Year of Release: 1957Country of Origin: USA
Director: Stanley Kramer
Cast: Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, Sophia Loren
Plot outline: A British naval officer helps Spanish peasants haul a large cannon cross-country to battle Napoleon (IMDb).
The Pride and the Passion is spectacularly produced featuring hundreds of extras, beautiful Spanish scenery, and several awesome sequences: including an attempt to transport massive cannon up and down a mountain, and the climactic assault on the fortified city of Avila. That said, it also suffers from some of the worst miscasting in history. Cary Grant is ill suited for costume dramas and it shows. Even worse is Frank Sinatra, who’s just ridiculous as a Spanish guerrilla. At least Sophia Loren is passable as object of both men’s desires. Compounding the miscasting is the length: 132 minutes is a long time to endure Sinatra’s Spanish-by-way-of-Hoboken accent and after awhile the sheer spectacle, the movie’s strongest suit, begins to wear thin. Nevertheless, the movie is worth seeing, if only once, because when it does work, such as the sequence involving an attempt to float the cannon over a river, it’s truly awesome. Who would have thought it would be a movie that falters most whenever Grant or Sinatra is on the screen? If top-notch production could trump bad miscasting, The Pride and the Passion would be spectacular, but, unfortunately for Grant and Sinatra, it can’t. (FML)
My judgement: ** out of 4 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment