mhall-17

I caught this turkey on late night T.V. and was frankly embarrassed for Taylor and Boyer, two distinguished performers who deserved to end their careers with some kind of dignity and grace. The whole thing was like someone's home movie of a recent nightmare. The movies also illustrates the truth of the adage: "Dying is easy;comedy is hard." Robert Taylor (for one) has never shown any kind of comic flair. The best that can be said of his performance here is that he made the wise decision to play his role "straight", with no attempt to be 'funny" in the delivery of his lines. About the only appeal this film might have would be for devotees of bondage films who enjoy watching the three giggling old ladies tie up and terrorize the heroine.

I stumbled upon this gem by accident while channel surfing one day. Pausing briefly on Chicago's public television station I saw a gangly young man cracking walnuts in his large hands and quickly realized that he was portraying George Washington as a young militia colonel. The film realistically portrays young Washington's agonized learning curve as he unwittingly sets off a global conflict between Britain and France by attacking a Fench army detachment somewhere near present-day Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. The frequently repeated theme song's,refrain, "heroes aren't born, heroes are made" is a fitting expression of the movie's theme. Washington makes many blunders but he learns from them and his character is hardened in advance for the future challenges that await him during the American Revolution.