La marca de Caín

Jack Palance is much too Young to be a credible patriarch;how can we believe this par excellence "villain" ,Edwards ,Maharis and co are a family unit?When he is directed by an efficient man (Fleischer,Aldrich),Palance can be great ;when he is left to his own devices ,like in "desperados" ,he can be awful,overplaying and bawling his curse on the good son and invoking Cain.The movie had biblical pretensions :after his sons and his henchmen ransack the town ,daddy compares it to God's wrath on Sodom.For 1969,it is a violent movie ,and it may have puzzled the audience for its lack of a real happy end.Besides,Sylvia Syms enjoys a swim in the nude in the river.

The tale,in which the brothers' jealousy sometimes recalls that of Joseph's brothers (Bible again), could have produced a worthwhile work,had it been given a good director and a good writer:but the story is desultory,the part of the mother who could have been interesting,had the flashbacks not been botched ;Devoid of a dramatic structure,for the scenes are repetitive ,"desperados" is a missed opportunity.