MONDO ESOTERICA

Part 1 of the Mondo Esoterica Forgotten Wars selection.

The Yangtse Incident (1957) tells the true story of the British ship HMS Amethyst. In 1949, at the height of the Chinese Civil War that saw Communist rule come to China, the British ship was travelling, with full permission of the existing Chinese Government, to the city of Nanking, conveying essential supplies to the British and embassy aiming to relieve the existing British warship there that was standing by to evacuate British personnel from the city. Travelling up river the ship came under heavy fire from Chinese People’s Liberation Army gunners on the shore and was badly damaged, forcing it to ground. Another British ship attempted to provide aid but was beaten back by heavy fire. A cease-fire was arranged with the People’s Forces who offered to let the ship go, provided that the British admit that they were at fault. After the wounded were evacuated over land, a British naval attaché was brought to the ship and arranged to escape under cover of darkness…

Made less than a decade after the incident, The Yangtse Incident is very historically accurate, although as is mentioned in a note at the start of the film, time constraints have limited how much detail could be shown. However this does not excuse the rather piecemeal information that we, as the viewers, do get. We never find out how the men who evacuate the ship get to safety, or how two of the wounded become separated. Similarly, those without a detailed knowledge of the Chinese river network might well find the long list of place names and locations to be rather confusing in establishing what is going on. Fortunately the film holds its own on the storyline front and the good characterisation and strong pacing build up to a genuinely gripping climax as the ship makes a bid for freedom.

Director Michael Anderson had previously helmed iconic British war film The Dam Busters (1955) and brings a similar ‘documentary’ style approach to the production which gives a good sense of realism to the whole proceedings. The ship itself was used extensively during filming, although there are a couple of model shots later on.

Richard Todd takes the top credit here in another British military man role, as usual he suits the role very well. There are a good number of familiar faces in the rest of the cast including future Doctor Who William Hartnell and an uncredited debut role for a young Bernard Cribbins.

Refreshingly free of the unsubtle “anti-war” messages and political correctness that would doubtless plague any modern adaptation, The Yangtse Incident is a solid two hours of stiff upper lips and British pride and comes recommended to all 1950s war movie fans.

Sadly there is no DVD in any region at present although some VHS copies do circulate. A solid looking print on Film 4 in the UK was the source of this review.

Director Sergio Corbucci is probably best remembered now for the dark, grim and nihilistic Spaghetti Westerns, Django (1966) and The Great Silence (1969), but his first genre entry was a very different film. Grand Canyon Massacre (1965) was a typical early Italian Western, from that period when the producers and filmmakers tried their hardest to give the films a Classic American Western feel. So the storyline and ambience is all very typical American Western stuff, while the lead star is the imported James Mitchum (son of Robert), who gives a very flat performance here.

Unusually for an Italian Western, the film was shot in Jugoslavia, home of the German produced Karl May Westerns and fans of the latter films should recognise character actor Vladimir Medar. There are a couple of other familiar faces on the cast, including George Ardisson and Giacomo Rossi-Stuart.

Ultimately it is an enjoyable film, if you go in expecting an American style Western, anyone hoping to see some of Corbucci’s later greatness will surely be disappointed. The German DVD from Koch Media is rather like the film, serviceable if unremarkable - a good, but non-anamorphic transfer and a light selection of extras.

A full review of the film and the disc: Grand Canyon Massacre

The People that Time Forgot (1977) was the direct sequel to the late Amicus adventure film The Land that Time Forgot (1975) and based on the book of the same name by American author Edgar Rice Burroughs.

It tells of an expedition, lead by Major Ben McBride (Patrick Wayne), thats set out to track down Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure) who was left trapped on the lost island at the end of the first film, and had put his journal and a description into a canister and thrown it into the sea. A group set out in a plane to fly over the island to look for signs of Tyler, but they are attacked by a flying creature, and forced to ditch. Three of the group head off and meet a native woman who was taught by Tyler, and tells them that he has been captured by the island’s most advanced tribe…..

The People that Time Forgot is far more exciting and enjoyable than the first film, with some a gripping storyline - unfortunately the pacing does seem very off in places, so we get some very long human vs. dinosaur sequences that really drag the film out, while some of the key plot points are hurried over. Burrough’s notions of metamorphosis and evolution that were briefly described in the first film, are simply overlooked here. Filmed on location in the Canary Islands, the film does look very good, and the advanced tribe with their pseudo-feudal-Japanese costumes are very sinister as is their mountain lair, although the soundtrack is rather sparse, certainly not as effective as the strange Mike Vickers score for At the Earth’s Core (1976).

There is an interesting mix of cast present. Patrick Wayne (who looks a lot like a young Terence Hill!) is well cast as the hero, while frequent Hammer star Thorley Walters plays well as the eccentric scientist (although they cannot recreate the superb double-bill of McClure and Cushing in Earth’s Core). Doug McClure himself gets little more than an extended cameo, but is obviously putting in some good effort. A duo of pretty girls, the very attractive Sarah Douglas and the amazingly scantily clad Dana Gillespie, look good in their roles, while the rest of the cast put on good shows - look out for several bit part Star Wars (1977) actors, and the big man, David Prowse in a small role.

An entertaining, if rather simple script, some good looking, if rather poorly paced direction and a generally solid cast make this an above average family friendly adventure film that comes recommended (although watch The Land that Time Forgot (1975) first to make more sense of it all).

The film is available on good looking DVDs in the UK/Europe and the USA from MGM. IMDB. DVD Rewind. Look out for a full DVD review later this year.

One of the best films from Jess Franco’s tragically short lived union with actress Soledad Miranda, Vampyros Lesbos is a bizarre female twist on the Dracula tale, even down to a female Renfield. Very sedately paced, with a lot of strange imagery coupled with some surreal jazz, the film is certainly not for all, but is recommended to Franco fans. Alongside the beautiful Miranda, Franco regulars Dennis Price and Paul Muller have parts to play, with Franco himself in one the strangest roles in the film.

The British DVD from Second Sight is very impressive, using a newly restored print and including a subtitled German soundtrack (the same as the Image R1 DVD). A still photo gallery includes some interesting shots of scenes that seemingly never made it into the film.

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Editor’s note - this is the first mini-review for this blog. For films that I either do not have time to review, or plan to review fully in the future, I will post these mini-reviews, exclusive to this blog. They will not be publicised elsewhere, so keep watching the blog, or subscribe to the RSS feed so as not to miss any! In this case, I have not given the film the full Mondo Esoterica treatment, because I will be compiling reviews for a complete Soledad Miranda week later this year, including of all the released films that she shot for Franco - so stay tuned for that.