Truly Dreadful Film

Just perfect...

From my favorite movies..

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Treasure of the Condor was a pretty good movie, especially when compared with the garbage being produced today. Constance White was a beautiful lady, but was very unfortunate in her life and ended tragically. I remember that Cornel Wilde performed all of his own actions...including the movie "The Naked Prey" where he is forced to run for his life through jungle, chased by savages. BUT its Macready that I am asking about. I remember his voice from radio "way back" in the 40's....am I wrong? Its a very distinctive voice, and I swear I remember it because radio was the only entertainment we had in the home. Does anyone remember this? Can anybody confer with me in this mystery? If so, please let me know. [email protected]

The opening credits state that the Guatemalan natives appear in their own authentic native costumes and rituals, but somehow I found that suspect, particularly for 1953. Maybe so, but I have my doubts.The picture is alternately colorful and drab, and even though Cornel Wilde cuts a dashing figure as the adult Jean-Paul, he doesn't exude much charisma. There are a couple of beefcake shots of the actor offered for the viewing pleasure of the ladies, and back in the day it might have caused a swoon or two.The Technicolor format chosen for the picture does it justice when it comes to the native dance scenes and the tropical Guatemalan countryside. The story of a stolen inheritance and Jean-Paul's reclaiming and then rejecting it is moderately interesting, but it takes some time to get there. The sequence in the cave with the python is actually rather dumb when you think about it. Old MacDougal (Finlay Currie) throws a machete at it and misses by a mile, followed by Jean-Paul's torch which also fails to find it's mark. It seemed rather pointless to me. This may have been a draw in the early Fifties, but then again, I have my doubts about that too.

I absolutely loved this film as a child. When I watched it again after 60 years it was even better than I remembered. Instead of the phony Polynesians of the earlier adaptation of the original novel Benjamin Blake (Son of Fury with Tyrone Power) the acting is excellent, and the story, reset in France prior to theRevolution makes great social comments on the excesses of the aristocracy and their vile treatment of lower classes, it includes a serious interest in science and anthropology. This is definitely worth seeing. The photography is great, and the scenes of actual inhabitants of Central America in their rituals and dancing made it ring.Cornel Wilde was perfectly fine in the role. And the old Scotsman added interest and wisdom.

This film was the Indiana Jones of the fifties. I cannot recall much of the film except remembering Jean Paul in the cave during the final scene and he battles the condor and the roof of the cave comes crashing down. This was an exciting picture and I remember wishing that I could see it again but poverty prevented me from doing so. It was a thrilling film- from the beginning to the end. Its really amazing how, although it was filmed without the modern gadgetry and the computer, we were entertained with some of the finest films of which this was one. I wish I could see it again and show my children that after fifty years, the only thing that has invaded our screen is the lack of real heroism and the glorification of sex.