Coast of Skeletons

Moviecut—Coast of Skeletons

I note that one reviewer used the word finest in conjunction with Harry Alan Towers.Now that is the most incongruous choice of adjectives for the purveyor of schlock.The film is suggested by the character of Sanders.I suggest it is suggested by desperation.The story only comes together in the last ten minutes.Prior to that it is lethargic if not inert.There is a storyline about a sunken dredger which is virtually abandoned.Just don't bother with this.It's rating of 4.9 is generous.

Richard Todd who has just gotten the sack as they say it on the other side of the pond as a police inspector in one of those newly independent former colonies of Great Britain gets a job to check into the activities of American tycoon Dale Robertson in South Africa. Robertson is a shady character who has his eyes on an old merchant wreck on the west Africa coast that was carrying a lot of His Majesty's gold on board. It's still British property unless Robertson can salvage it for himself. For that purpose he's enlisted the U-Boat captain who sank it back in World War 2 Heinz Drache. This film is from the apartheid government of South Africa and ain't it fascinating there is nary a black face in the cast. It's a routine action/adventure saga with all the players looking real bored with the film. I'm sure their checks all cleared. Maybe they were paid in bullion or diamonds.

This is a good movie! All the characters are interesting, and the scenery of Africa--seems like Namibia, on the coast--is a good location. The end has more emotional impact than you usually find in an adventure film. Richard Todd is, as usual, very likeable and comes across as a confident, capable guy. His character impressed me as how a real person would be, not some silly James Bond clone. There is a decent amount of action in the movie. No giant battles, no shootouts with machine guns, OK? It's a movie with some subtlety and understatement. I think it's very unfortunate, how the impact of the Bond movies in the 1960's skewed people's expectations of an adventure film. This movie deserves a much high rating on IMDB than it now has. See it, and see what you think! The dvd I bought recently has a good picture quality; not great, but decent and watchable.

Richard Todd is back as Harry Sanders in another African adventure. The story is good enough but the acting with this international cast is largely suspect. Heinz Drache and Marianne Koch are the main offenders of the wooden acting school but this may have something to do with the fact that English is not their first language. Dale Robertson as the Texan playboy has no such excuse. His character is such a stereotype, it's hard to believe that Robertson has made a career of playing cowboys. But then the writing has much to blame there. Special mention must go to the ending. Talk about a convenient one. This movie is the perfect example of tying up all loose plot endings with a bang. Not very satisfying but at least it's final. The movie should only be of interest to Richard Todd completists or people wondering what a Harry Alan Towers (the writer) movie would be like without the softcore sex and violence that would dominate his later films.