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Charles Bronson Cabo Blanco/Us Marshal [2000]
![Charles Bronson Cabo Blanco/Us Marshal [2000]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51DEAB2HDJL._SL160_.jpg)
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Editorial
Special Features
English
Region 0
Introduction By Tony Curtis
Trailer For The Great Escape
Editorial
Synopsis
CABO BLANCO: In 1949, a British research arrives at the Peruvian fishing village of Cabo Blanco, located on the sun beaten coast of Peru. American Gifford Hoyt (Charles Bronson), has come to Cabo Blanco after fighting in the war in order to escape the pressures of the world. But the arrival of the British ship, beautiful French widow Marie (Dominique Sanda), the presence of ex-Nazi Gunther, and word of treasure on the ocean floor, threaten to disturb the village's calm air. Shot on location in Mexico by Director J. Lee Thompson (THE GUNS OF NAVARONE).
U.S. MARSHAL: In this episode of the 1958 US television series, Charles Bronson guest stars as a private in the army who decides to violently break away from military life. After shooting a sergeant and taking a girl hostage in a petrol station, he tries to figure out how to escape while the marshal closes in on him. (B&W)
Well, at least the music is good...
Review date: 2006-08-30 Rating: 4 out of 10
There are so many bad reasons to see films that seeing CaboBlanco simply because it has (along with The Salamander) one of Jerry Goldsmith's most obscure scores doesn't seem quite such a stupid one, especially since the score is pretty good. Although it never matches its magnificent Ravelesque opening, let alone the extraordinary work Goldsmith was doing at the same period (Star Trek, The Boys From Brazil, The First Great Train Robbery, Magic, The Swarm, Masada, Poltergeist), it's another case of a composer being inspired by a bad film to turn out a good score that's still head and shoulders over 99% of film scoring today.
The film itself is certainly an oddity, an attempt to do a Casablanca in post-war Peru, but Charles Bronson, Dominique Sanda, Simon MacCorkindale, Fernando Rey and Jason Robards were never likely to offer much competition to Bogie, Bergman, Heinreid, Rains and Veidt even had the script been better. (There's no Dooley Wilson or As Time Goes By, but Nat King Cole is playing on the jukebox singing The Very Thought of You.) Sanda in particular, as usual in her English language work, is so staggeringly awful you half-expect her to bump into the furniture, although she gets strong competition from MacCorkindale in the who-can-give-the-worse-performance stakes, but an easygoing Bronson at least is good value.
Feeling more like one of RKO's mid 50s SuperScope South of the Border treasure hunt movies than anything from Warners' golden age, the film at times feels like its suffered some last-minute editing, jumping into some scenes apparently midway while some characters are never introduced properly (prominently billed Clifton James never appears at all), and the ending - involving a parrot, a secret code, a stuck record on a jukebox and a cyanide pill - is one of the most absurd endings in screen history. Still, there's some fluid and impressively composed Scope camerawork and the scenery's nice, although both suffer in the DVD transfers. It's an unlikely candidate for restoration, but it's worth noting that the German DVD available through Amazon.de does at least boast a good 2.35:1 transfer and extras (trailer, 25-minute making of and hardback book style packaging), though the soundtrack doesn't fare so well.
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Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Charles Bronson;Jason Robards;Dominique Sanda;Fernando Rey;Simon MacCorkindale;Camilla Sparv;Gilbert Roland;Denny Miller;James Booth;Jorge Russek;Clifton James;Ernest Esparza III;José Chávez;Carlos Romano (II);Martin LaSalle
Creators:
Charles Bronson;Jason Robards;Dominique Sanda;Fernando Rey;Simon MacCorkindale;Camilla Sparv;Gilbert Roland;Denny Miller;James Booth;Jorge Russek;Clifton James;Ernest Esparza III;José Chávez;Carlos Romano (II);Martin LaSalle (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: delta home entertainment
Manufacturer: delta home entertainment
EAN: 0506094014065
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Black & White, Colour, PAL,
Release date: 2000-03-01
Universal product code (UPC): 506094014065
Number of discs: 1
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Running time: 120 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1980
Language: English (Unknown)
Language: English (Original Language)