Ahoy, mateys! Sony has just released a great new DVD collection titled Icons of Adventure that showcases three films top-lining Christopher Lee: Pirates of Blood River (1962) , Devil Ship Pirates (1964) and Terror of the Tongs (1961) all from Hammer Film Studios, which was primarily known for its legendary horror movies. The set also features one movie that Lee doesn't appear in, Stranglers of Bombay (1960), the only black-and-white title in the collection. If you can get past the God-awful packaging that makes the DVD look like one of those public domain releases you find in the dollar stores, this is a very entertaining set. I confess to not having seen a single one of these films before and I was prepared for the possibility that they had not held up well over time. However, each title is very well made and extremely enjoyable in its own way. Most surprising is the outstanding production values of both of the Pirate films. These are among the most expensive looking movies Hammer ever produced (despite the fact they were shot at Bray Studios and in Black Park, England) and, contrary to popular belief, the two movies were not related and had completely independent characters and storylines.
The Pirates of Blood River begins with Kerwin Matthews being sentenced to a penal colony by his religious zealot father for having a romantic relationship with a married woman. In the course of a daring escape, he encounters Christopher Lee and his band of pirates who act as benign saviors, but who ultimately take over and terrorize Matthews' home village. Lee is outstanding in the principal role as the erudite, yet cold-blooded murderer. This is no "shiver-me-timbers" character or performance and he's abetted greatly by a good supporting cast that includes Andrew Keir, Marla Landi, Michael Ripper and young Oliver Reed. There's even a brief appearance by Desmond Llewelyn. The only weak point is the casting of American actors Kerwin Matthews and Glenn Corbett as the main heroes. Both look like they just stepped out of a lunch at Sardis and neither makes the slightest attempt to emulate the accents of the other actors.
The Devil Ship Pirates casts Christopher Lee as a mercenary who is fighting for Spain in the Spanish Armada's ill-fated invasion of England. When the battle ends in disaster, Lee betrays the Spanish and ends up secreting his damaged ship off a rural part of England where he desperately seeks to get necessary repairs done. He concocts an audacious plan to convince local villagers that the English have lost the battle and that he is leading a victorious occupation force. The ruse works -at least at first and Lee uses brute force and public executions to suppress any chance of revolt and to enlist the local men to do repairs on his ship. Lee gives a particularly powerful performance in this film. His character is a man of culture and education, but does not stint on using barbaric tactics to keep innocent people in line. The film also gives Lee, who is an accomplished fencing artist, plenty of opportunity to display his swashbuckling skills in the film's exciting dueling sequences.
The Terror of the Tongs is actually the weakest of the films in the collection with Lee giving a credible performance as a mysterious, Fu Manchu-like Chinese master criminal who traffics in graft and prositution in Hong Kong. Geoffrey Toone is a sea captain who declares war on Lee and his murderous Tong Society after they murder his daughter in their quest to obtain secret information. The film is well-scripted but suffers from meager production values (there are virtually no exterior sequences). The claustrophobic production cries out for more sweep but has all the scope of a live TV production. Yvonne Monlaur is a fetching Chinese girl rescued from forced prostitution by Toone. The leads all give reasonably good performances, but there is the age-old conceit of having the major roles of Asian characters played by Caucasian actors. (The film does feature Burt Kwouk as one of the few genuine Asian actors in the cast).
Though largely unheralded because of its lack of marquee names, The Stranglers of Bombay is arguably the most impressive film in the collection due to a literate script and a fine leading performance by Guy Rolfe as a British army officer assigned to safeguard trade caravans in India during the era of colonial rule. Rolfe is convinced that a secret cult has been responsible for kidnapping the many Indians who have mysteriously vanished. However, his superior ignores his warnings until the truth emerges with disastrous results. The script is based on the true actions of the dreaded Thugee cult that used kidnap victims as human sacrifices. The film is intriguing and exciting on every level and remains one of Hammer's most underrated productions.
Although Christopher Lee's participation is sadly missing, the set does feature informative commentary screen writers Jimmy Sangster and David Z. Goodman as well as Hammer historians Chris Barnes and Marcus Hearn, and art director Don Mingaye. The set also features some nice bonus items in addition to the original trailers for each film. Among them: a wonderful 1930s pirate cartoon titled The Merry Mutineers that features hilarious "starring" roles by the superstars of the day including Fred Astaire, W.C. Fields and The Marx Brothers. There is also a segment of a 1953 serial, The Great Adventures of Captain Kidd that falls into the "so-bad-it's-great" category. There's also a two reel comedy with Andy Clyde as a man who decides to live life to the fullest after being falsely told he's going to die. It's quite amusing, even if it has nothing to do with the theme of the DVD collection. Make sure you add Sony's Icons of Adventure to your treasure chest.- Lee Pfeiffer
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