McGuire, Go Home!

This is not for Bogarde fans:we are far from Visconti or Losey here.I wonder why he agreed to take part in such a dumb movie.The political background is botched ,for instance Chakiris 's character is a villain,period:he has no thoughts,no motivations,no opinions ,and he does not seem to care at all.But the biggest flaw is the late Susan Strasberg's "performance":she seems unable to act ;when she learns,on her way to the airport,that she can be killed any minute now,she's about as expressive as a Barbie Doll.Another priceless scene happens when she hitch- hikes and bumps into the machoest man in the island -who tries to rape her of course-Why Bogarde wants to marry this bubblehead girl remains the movie's biggest mystery!

The script ,full of holes and incoherent -on the plane,Strasberg proves she's not afraid of looking ridiculous once more-,leads nowhere,and the various titles (English: "a high bright sun";America:"" Go Home,McGuire"(sic);France:"dernière mission à Nicosie" ) shows that nobody seems to understand what they try to say.The hero is English of course and the poor girl's attentive escort , this tourist so mistreated by the villains,the Cypriot of course.

After all theses many years, the film stands out in my memory mainly for one thing:

It was the first time I ever heard a swear word -- "bastard" -- on screen. (One of the characters is referred to as a "sneaky little bastard").

In those innocent times we were so taken aback that we thought we had heard wrong.

The next notch up the scale, incidentally, came about six years later when I saw "Woodstock" and actually heard the F word....

I also remember High Bright Sun for George Chakiris -- such a charismatic young actor -- and so sad that he faded out soon after

Though glossy and peopled with stars (Dirk Bogarde, Susan Strasberg and George Chakiris), this is a surprisingly compelling – if obviously biased – film about the 1950s British 'invasion' of Cyprus. Truth be told, the first half is pretty much run-of-the-mill stuff, but the latter stages – involving the various assassination attempts on Strasberg's life (a naturalized American local who, having accidentally stumbled upon a secret meeting at which the leaders of the Resistance were present, is feared to have revealed all to enemy official Bogarde, whom she has befriended and subsequently romances) – generate considerable suspense and excitement. The first plot has her being ambushed in the countryside, though the son of the eminent doctor (an old family friend) she was lodging with alerts her to this and even defends her with his life; later, she and Bogarde are besieged inside his flat; finally, the impulsive Chakiris opts to deal with the matter personally and boards the plane which is supposed to take the heroine to safety in Athens (where, however, both the flamboyant Denholm Elliott and the enigmatic George Pastell vigil over her). While Bogarde isn't particularly taxed by his stiff-upper-lipped serviceman role, Strasberg comes off quite well as the confused but resilient girl – the unwitting pawn of a dangerous political game. Also notable is the unusual score, at once exotic and moody, curiously supplied by an Italian (Angelo Francesco Lavagnino).

"The High Bright Sun" is a 1964 film about an American girl (Susan Strasberg) caught in the Cypriot fight against the British in the '50s. The stars are Dirk Bogarde, George Chakiris and Denholm Elliot. While staying at the home of a family friend, Strasberg sees someone that she's not supposed to, and the guerrillas decide that she has to die before she tells a frequent visitor to the house, Major McGuire (Bogarde) what she's seen.

Bogarde made this film for Betty Box and Ralph Thomas of the Rank "Doctor" franchise, and it was apparently an unpleasant experience. He wasn't feeling well, the location town was a little too primitive for his tastes, and he got into a huge fight with the director, Thomas, at one point. Fortunately it was a pretty fast shoot.

Beautiful location shots and lots of suspense as the Strasberg character runs for her life. The performances are good - Strasberg could have been stronger, but the script was a little sketchy in regard to her character.

I think anything with Bogarde is worth watching.

Something of a romantic potboiler but strongly redeemed by two factors which stamp it as a thoroughly British rather than a Hollywood production. First, the gritty realism of its portrayal of the Cypriot independence struggle against British military rule in the 1950s. Second, its warts-and-all portrayal of everyday relationships and behaviour, instead of the typical Hollywood sanitized morality of the era.

All you need to know about Cyprus is that the locals ran a successful guerilla war against British rule in the 1950s. Against that background, the movie sets up a tangle of love and conflicting loyalties for a British officer and a beautiful Cypriot-American visitor, which generates plenty of action, suspense and tough moral choices. The characters are portrayed with refreshing realism - a few four and seven letter words pepper the script along with references to rape, divorce, alcoholism and extra-marital sex, which would have been fairly shocking for the era and probably even when the movie was made in the 1960s.

Despite a few improbable aspects of the plot (eg the officer lives in an unguarded apartment in town where his security is always at risk), the overall result is a convincingly bold, brassy, in-your-face portrayal of life and love in the middle of a dirty war - and a moderately good thriller into the bargain.