The Wonderful Country (1959)

hyped garbage

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

We got a Western with Mitchum for starters. Then, add Indians, Calvary, love interest, gun play, Mexico, drinking, fighting, horses and some history and we got a decent movie on our hands. Mitch handles his accent rather well and the story is an interesting one. He is a gringo who had to live in Mexico but realizes that may change if he changes. Of course the love interest has something to do with that decision along with other circumstances. Good supporting cast here too. Good movie for eating a burrito or some tacos with a tasty drink or a nice cut of beef. Have some pan dulce (sweet bread) for dessert as there is all that in the movie and more. Even some beef jerky and pumpkin seeds will work for the full effect. Nice scenery and filmed on location i.e. Mexico. BTW...They are always having an over throw of power or position or some sort of revolution in that country because everyone is always jockeying for power and of course more money. It goes on to this day too. Enjoy amigos & pards

This offbeat 1959 western stars the laconic Robert Mitchum as gunslinger Martin Brady, a Texas outlaw and outcast who fled to his adopted country Mexico as a youth. He works for the corrupt Castro brothers of whom he finds out much too late that he's just a pawn they move about their chessboard (Northern Mexico) as they please.The film's major flaw is the narrative...it's a bit jumpy in spots but may have fallen victim studio intervention. Some characters seem to enter briefly, to be seen no more or are underdeveloped. Julie London's Helen Colton seems to fall victim to that. She's an ex dance hall girl (I believe), now a 'respected' wife of Major Colton (Gary Merrill) who engages in an affair with Brady out of pure lust.But Brady...who's growing older and wearier it seems before our eyes, sees her as his redemption. His guns have cost him heavily, he has no family or lover or even respect. All he has is Mexico and that has betrayed him too. If you're expecting an action packed, shoot them up...this is not for you.There are elements here we see in later films...we get a taste of Mexican culture, which Brady identifies more with than America, that we see in The Magnificent Seven and The Wild Bunch. And Paul Newman's John Russell in Hombre, mirrors Brady here. All are men without countries, men who cling to a culture or code American society shuns.The locations, photography and music (Alex North) all help create an atmosphere of majestic isolation. And the inclusion of black Buffalo soldiers is all too rare in westerns, even today. As one reviewer stated earlier, it could have been more. But there's still a lot here.

It occurred to me in the final minutes of the picture what the title might have been meant to represent - as Martin Brady (Robert Mitchum) makes his way across the Rio Grande from Mexico, his destination is the United States. Notwithstanding the dramatic desert scenery of his foster country, it's America where Brady will find some measure of freedom and liberty upon escaping the invisible noose of the Castro's. Fifty years removed from the original release of the picture, and without benefit of knowing to what extent politics played in the development of the story line, it's interesting to speculate about the film maker's use of the Castro name. It was in 1959 that Fidel Castro was sworn in as Prime Minister of Cuba after a colorful history of insurrection and guerrilla warfare. The movie's Castro had a brother as well, while today, Raul Castro replaces his ailing brother at the helm of his island country.Whether my speculation holds any water or not, one thing I'm not buying is Brady's horse being spooked by a tumbleweed. Was that the first time he ever saw one? I lost a little credibility in the story at about that point; Brady could have broken his leg or been laid up in a more effective manner, perhaps a bar room brawl or a gunfight. But it did set him up as a sympathetic character for the admiration of Helen Colton (Julie London) and as a foil in Mrs. Colton's relationship with her husband (Gary Merrill).The genuine surprise in the picture for me was the appearance of the legendary Satchel Paige as a soldier in Colton's black regiment. How cool was that? It was Paige's only movie credit, and makes me curious as to how he was selected for the role. So there's another bit of historical trivia I'll have to scope out.Generally speaking, I found the picture to hold my interest well enough beyond the tumbleweed incident. Mitchum was a bit too droll in his portrayal to suit me, but he's certainly competent enough here as in other films I've seen him. It hadn't occurred to me before how much he resembles another celebrity of the era, Dean Martin. It makes me want to go out and get a copy of "Five Card Stud" in which they both appeared.

The Wonderful Country, the Big Land, the Young Land, The Big Country . . . there were so many westerns during the late 1950s with strikingly similar titles that you needed a score card to keep them all straight. One of the least remembered - though that's a shame - is director Robert Parrish's (from a fine novel by Tom Lea, himself a forgotten figure but a western novelist worth rediscovering by buffs) yarn about a rangy American (Robert Mitchum) who has been hiding out in Mexico, returns to U.S. soil, and discovers that he's virtually a man without a country - he doesn't really belong anywhere. This had to be one of the films that influenced Sergio Leone, and his Man With No Name character played by Clint Eastwood, in that I'm not sure there was an anti-hero wrapped in a serape before Mitchum in this movie. No mule for him, though - he rides a magnificent horse, and his relationship to it - symbolic as well as realistic - will remind you of a later, greater western, Lonely Are the Brave (1962) with Kirk Douglas and 'Whiskey.' Here, the metaphor is kept more subtle. Julie London appears as the sexually frustrated wife of an army commander (Gary Merrill), and while she's certainly beautiful enough for the role, her acting is slightly more stilted and wooden than that of Kim Novak. One neat bit of trivia: This is the only film to co-star the great athlete Satchel Paige, as a 'buffalo soldier' - and here's yet another innovation, for you'd have to search hard and long to find an earlier Hollywood film that depicted members of the black army of the west. Overall, a very good show - not too much action, but gorgeous color and music,, characterizations, and overall atmosphere.