Kim
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Movie Reviews of Kim
Movie Review: Old classics still the best
Summary: 4 Stars
Despite Errol Flynn's issues with the public during the Second World War, this remains one of the great classics. His acting always seemed on the cusp of silent and talkie film, and perhaps that little bit "hammed up". He yet again portrays effectively the true "villainous hero" type. I always felt Dean Stockwell should have got top billing, but then I saw it first as a kid around his age. He had the good fortune to be selected to play roles in a number of the other films of Kipling's novels (for example, Captains Courageous). Kipling's great adventures were the ultimate "stuff" of the Saturday Matinee, and this is a prime example of those "ripping yarn" style presentations. The later production with Ravi Sheth was good, in colour,with great character actors (Bryan Brown) but seemed to lack the period charm of the original. My advice. Read the book, watch the original, watch the remake and then decide. For those who may not be aware, a later sequel to Kim was written by an Indian author, and while it sides Kim with the pro-independence, anti-Raj movement, it nonetheless takes the story a little further, for those who wondered what happened to Kim afterwards.
It is hard to find. I got an interlibrary loan copy from the National Library of Australia. Yes, that hard to find.
Five stars for story telling without a great range of special effects. Three stars because it was not possible to show the scenery in colour (and that is definitely an unfair rating) and four and a half stars for Saturday Matinee style acting.
This is for curling up on a Saturday after lunch, with a comforting bowl of chips or popcorn, pulling the curtains and travelling back in time.
Movie Review: A necessary telescoping of the novel, but...
Summary: 4 Stars
......nevertheless as good on DVD as I remember it on the big screen when I was a youngster. During the '50s and '60s, when it played on commercial television, the idiot box artists chopped this film without mercy or sense, squeezing out of it almost all the flavor, and it's great to see *Kim* - admittedly a bit murky on the visual side, a bit twiddled and diddled in the sound department - back in its theatrical version, and in a form that allows for easy replay and scene selection.
Despite the relatively minor role played by the "real" Mahbub Ali in Kipling's book, the script's structuring took advantage of Errol Flynn's mature screen presence (as an actor, he most certainly got better as he grew older) to good effect, and did the job without doing any real violence to Kipling's story. Dean Stockwell's work is only so-so compared with what he *could* produce under proper direction, and while Paul Lukas is as good in this role as you'd expect him to be, I still have more than a bit of trouble thinking of him as a Tibetan lama.
By the bye, could someone please tell us the name of the tune being played as the Mavericks ("a red bull on a green field") come marching into frame about midway through the movie? It's the same tune playing at the close of film, and I'm driving myself *nuts* trying to remember what the damned thing is called. Thanks.
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Movie Review: Errol Flynn Goes to India
Summary: 4 Stars
Errol Flynn may have top billing in this epic adventure drama, based on a book by Rudyard Kipling, but his is only a secondary role.
Dean Stockwell is the central character in the story of a young British orphan who, in order to avoid going to school, pretends to be a street urchin in Colonial India. His protector is Red Beard (Flynn), a horse trader who is also a key operative in British espionage activities against rebel forces that are being backed by the Russians.
Also in the cast of the Victor Saville directed film is Paul Lukas, playing a holy man who Stockwell comes to revere, and Robert Douglas as the head of the British Secret Service.
There's plenty of action and, though his role is somewhat brief, Flynn is, thankfully, Flynn.
© Michael B. Druxman
Movie Review: Question answered
Summary: 4 Stars
This was the only way I could figure out to answer Predone's question: The tune is "John Peel".Movie Review: Average Adventure Film.
Summary: 3 Stars
This will be a "mixed" review. This is a gorgeous film to look at--on-location shooting in India greatly enhances the visual appeal, and the sets and colourful costumes are eye-catching to say the least. The plot, based on Kipling's classic book, concerns a young British, orphaned boy, who disguises himself as an Indian to avoid school and indulge in some espionage for the British, via a shady horse-trader. It takes place during the Victorian period.The boy--Kim--is played by a very young Dean Stockwell, and his performance is excellent. The horse trader is portrayed by Errol Flynn--older and heavier than during his peak, swashbuckling years at Warner Brothers. While Flynn is top-billed, do not be mislead--this film is about the boy--at the same time, Flynn has lost little of the charm and roguish twinkle that made him such a big star.
What this film needed, however, was more action--beautiful scenery and costumes cannot disguise the fact that this film has too many dull patches.
The DVD is decent--full-screen--nice colour--mono sound, of course.
"Kim" has its moments--but if you see the name of Errol Flynn on the cover, and expect plenty of exciting action, you may be disappointed.