A Big Man's adventure set in East Africa in 1913 in the days of German and English brinkmanship , with two roguish adventurers , Irish-American called Flynn (Lee Marvin providing a hamming ridiculous acting) and English officer Sebastian Oldsmith (likeable Roger Moore , though unusually wooden , at times) involving ivory poaching , fights , a love story -between Roger Moore and Barbara Parkins- while they seek to blow up a German battleship out for repairs before the outbreak of WWI .The Greatest African Adventure Ever Filmed ¡A spectacular adventure you will always remember and a beautiful love story you will never forget ¡.
This is an ostentatiously flick with some ludricous moments , displaying a large budget , being full of manly sentiments but makes a mostly unsuccessfully return to the world of colonial intrigues . The film is packed with noisy action , thrills , brawls , suspense, violence , tension and lots of humor with tongue-in-cheek . From the novel by Wilbur Smith and based on an actual incident , but that doesn't make the comedy adventure any more palatable . Resulting to be an impressive epic so vast it took two years to create and a whole continent to contain . It has uncomfortable mix of comedy and drama , some flaws and gaps with little believable situations and regularly developed , but the big budget permits any number of fairly poinless action-oriented excursions and explosions . The picture offers an amusing comedy adventure adding some tragic elements , combining a slim script with African Queen malarkey . Main cast is frankly good , giving sympathetic performances . Lee Marvin behaves increasingly like a caricature of himself , turning to leer at the camera at the end of each take , as he seems incapable of controlling his excesses and Roger Moore showing certain aptitude and conviction for comedy . While Barbara Parkins provides the only emotional complexity on display . And brief appearances from other British and German secondaries such as : Ian Holm , Reinhard Kolldehoff , Karl Michael Vogler , Horst Janson , Jean Kent , Maurice Denham , George Coulouris.
Displaying colorful cinematography by Michael Reed shot on location in Malta , South Africa , Port St. Johns, South Africa. As well as moving and attractive musical score by Maurice Jarre. This overlong motion picture was middlingly directed by Peter Hunt who had a long career as a cinematic editor . Having started out in the film industry as a clapper boy , by the 40's he was working in the editing department and by the 50's he was an assistant editor then a fully fledged editor. In 1962 as editor on the first James Bond film , Dr No . Subsequently , he made one of the best Bond films : ¨On her majestic's secret service ¨, furthermore ,¨Death hunt¨ and this ¨Shout the devil¨. Rating : 6/10 . Acceptable and passable . The yarn will appeal to Lee Marvin and Roger Moore fans .
