Im Reiche des goldenen Condor

Delmer Daves has assembled an impressive cast but they all rather just go through the motions in this routine swashbuckler. Cornel Wilde takes top billing as the dispossessed "Jean-Paul" who finds himself robbed of his inheritance. He has but one chance to avenge things - and that is to head to remote Guatemala and seek out a treasure that, Monte-Cristo style - will help him right the wrongs done to him. Were it ever to have escaped the confines of the studio, then perhaps it might have delivered a bit better but the action scenes are all too stage-bound and the jungle looks no more authentic than the greenhouse at Kew. Anne Bancroft brings some glamour as the "Comtesse" and George Macready some menace as the scheming "Marquis" but it's all rather too predictable and Wilde is nowhere near his charming, charismatic - or acrobatic - best. It's watchable and as a fan of the genre i still quite enjoyed it - but it isn't very good and is, frankly, instantly forgettable.

Jean-Paul (Cornel Wilde) is left penniless and abandoned when his father dies and his sinister uncle (George Mcready) wrongfully takes the family fortune . Jean is the rightful heir to his uncle's title and lands and he then rebels against him , the Marquis De St. Malo . Later on , he escapes to sea and goes South America along with MacDougal (Finlay Currie) . The explorers arrive in Port Rio Dulce and Jean heads to the jungles of 18th century Guatemala in search of ancient treasure , all the while plotting his vengeance . Later on , Jean encounters the Blue Lagoon . But he still finds time to fall for two beautiful women Clara MacDougal (Constance Smith) and Marie , Comtesse De St. Malo (Anne Bancroft).

Nice 18th-century costumer done in grand style that provides solid escapist yarn . Contains enjoyable footage of Mayan ruins shot on location in Guatemala , rugged scenery excellently photographed in Technicolor by Edward Cronjager , larger-than-life characters played by a great main cast , but all the performance class comes from prestigious secondary actors . The central section , when the prospectors mistaken for Gods , sags a bit , but starring Constance Smith delivers the glamorous native charmer for compensation . Cornel Wilde gives a decent acting as a dashing Frenchman who journeys to the far-off Mayan hills of Guatemala hunting a hidden treasure to win his fortune , come back and claim his heritage . Being based on the popular novel ¨Benjamin Blake¨ by Edison Marshall that was adapted in 1942 as ¨Son of fury¨ by John Cromwell with Tyrone Power , George Sanders , Roddy McDowall , Frances Farmer , Gene Tierney and set in Polynesian islands . This gave Cornel Wilde one of the best of his dashing early roles . He played several adventure movies , such as : ¨Sword of Lancelot¨, ¨Omar Khayyam , ¨At sword's point¨ , ¨A thousand and one nights¨ , ¨Norseman¨, ¨The fifth musketeer and directed/acted the classic ¨The naked prey¨ ¨.

The motion picture was well and compellingly directed by Delmer Davis . He was a good professional who directed all kinds of genres , such as: Romantic dramas : ¨Rome adventure¨, ¨Parrish¨, ¨A summer Place¨ ; WWII : ¨Task force¨, ¨Hollywood canteen¨, ¨Destination Tokyo¨ , Noir film : ¨Dark passage¨ , ¨The red house¨ , Historical : ¨Demetrius and the gladiators¨ and especially Western : ¨The hang tree¨, ¨The Badlanders¨, ¨Cowboy¨, ¨3.10 to Yuma¨, ¨Jubal¨, ¨Drum Beat¨, and ¨ Broken arrow¨.

The location of the injustice is changed from 18th century Great Britain to 18th century France and the treasure is emeralds and not pearls found now in Guatemala instead of the South Seas. But the plot of Treasure Of The Golden Condor is easily recognizable as that of Tyrone Power's Son Of Fury. Cornel Wilde who was another of those standbys for Power in both their times at 20th Century Fox in the Forties when Zanuck's favorite star was otherwise occupied stands in well for Power when Zanuck decided to remake the film.

The story is that of a man deemed illegitimate because no proof of a marriage can be found and disinherited from title and lands by a cruel and avaricious uncle George MacReady. George Sanders played the uncle in the original and both Sanders and MacReady were first rate cads.

The women in Wilde's life are Constance Smith the daughter of Finlay Currie his partner in fortune hunting and Anne Bancroft whose got a yen buzzing for her cousin Wilde. Bancroft in her third feature film is MacReady's daughter, she's quite the vixen.

Wilde was always one of the best action adventure stars of his days, but he never got to the top tier level. Instead of going to television as so many of his contemporaries did he went into production of his own films that usually played as B pictures. In terms of quality they varied greatly. This film is an opportunity to see him at his swashbuckling best as he was one of the best at the fencing game. He was a member of the 1936 US Olympic team.

In the supporting cast note Leo G. Carroll as the lawyer who aides Wilde in proving his lineage, a sincere but cynical performance. Also Fay Wray as MacReady's wife, a most unhappy woman. Just married to George MacReady is reason enough.

Cornel Wilde's fans should be pleased. Technicolor as well.

Here is some trivia on "Treasure of the Golden Condor" (which is by the way a remake of Fox's "Son of Fury". It's by now a well-known fact that Otto Preminger directed some retakes on that film. That was indicated to me by producer Paul Buck, on the set of Preminger's film "Rosebud". (Buck was also Peter O'Toole's producing partner).Preminger had mentioned it to me earlier, in Paris. He did not remember the title, but gave me enough indications to find out that it was "Teasure of the Golden Condor". He said at that time that he only worked on one short scene "dealing with a snake" (of which he was terribly afraid). The extent of Preminger's contribution however is not clearly established, as Buck seemed to indicate that it went a bit further than just one day.

The movie was broadcast this afternoon on french TV (France 3). Never heard about it before. The action takes place half in a fake Hollywood France of the "XVIIIème siècle", half on location in the real beauty of Guatemala. Delmer Daves is for sure a professional entertainer (see "Broken Arrow"), and the movie follows the best tradition of US (almost B) movies in costume, like Fritz Lang masterpiece "Moonfleet". The typography of the production credits and cast is great (in the "Drums Along the Mohawk" style, though inferior), the colors amazing, and the scenes shot in the ruins and landscapes in Guatemala - with the locals Indians - are truly beautiful. The political message against "money for money" and for freedom (Jean-Paul, the hero, is a "slave" in the French society of that time) is naive but OK. Cornel Wilde is a strange actor, but not as bad as I fear. He's good in action scenes, and can be stirring when the camera is close to his virile face. Not that sexy, but he is "un bel homme" as old French ladies would say. He and Delmer Daves must have been very proud of his great body : he's half naked twice (in 1953!), and not just a second. Anne Bancroft was a débutante, but she's very courageous in her part, a bitchy and cynic Marquise. The only problem is Constance Smith. Because she is not Debra Paget, the incredible actress of "Das Indische Grabmal". She is so not pithy, and that's a thousand pities.