McGuire, Go Home!

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

Back in 1957, Cypriots were fighting against the British occupying forces. After all, they wanted their own government and not be a colony of the United Kingdom. The viewer is expected to believe that in the midst of this civil war, an American tourist goes to Cypress to hang out with the locals and garden! Yes, Juno (Susan Strasberg) is apparently interested in hanging out in a war zone. And, while she wishes to remain neutral and on good terms with the Brits and locals, she is inexorably pulled into it...and doesn't have the common sense to leave.

So despite a dumb set-up, why did I watch this film? Because it stars Dirk Bogarde...and I'd watch this excellent actor in anything. Unfortunately, in addition to the dopey story idea, the film itself is sluggish and amazingly uninteresting...with an almost detached emotional feel to it. Not a good film but not exactly terrible either.

"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.

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).

I like many things about this movie. First, the story. Although it certainly has flaws, it is very interesting. All the time I was watching the movie I was trying to decide if the British and the Cyprus people were portrayed objectively or not. With the exception of few scenes (boys with a knife in the beginning and the character of Hagios) I think they are. For most of the movie Bogarde is not a nice guy at all. This only goes to show the wide variety of roles he embodied.

And I must say that I don't understand other people's negative comments about Susan Strasberg, I think she was great here. And most of all, she was gorgeous, in a natural way.

If only the plot was relieved from a few clumsy turns, it could have been a great movie...