Shout at the Devil (1976)

This movie proves that good stars do NOT always save a film for me no matter how hard they try. And I really did hope for great things. Lee Marvin and Roger Moore team up to sink a battleship in WWI in Africa. Now where have I heard of that one? (try African Queen). Only the team of Bogart and Hepburn did their film much better because they obviously had something better to work with than this one. For a sample go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgEWSuajBCs Peter R. Hunt (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) directed this World War I action-adventure, based upon the novel by Wilbur Smith. Roger Moore and Lee Marvin team up as Sebastian, a witty and cosmopolitan Englishman, and Flynn O'Flynn, a boozy and ornery Irish American, who decide to blow up a German battleship that has been hidden away for repairs in Southeast Africa. Helping the two in their quest to sink the battleship is Sebastian's wife Rosa (Barbara Parkins), who has her own reasons for seeing the ship destroyed -- the Germans took the life of her only child. One more impressed reviewer commented: "...this deserves to be much better known. Unfortunately it was lambasted by ignorant and ridiculous critics on both sides of the Atlantic upon its initial release, so it was re-edited and much of the more moving aspects of the film were cut out. As it stands, the video release and television versions in the UK show only about 2/3ds of the finished film." Another wrote: "I taped this movie on AMC network a number of years ago. One of my favorite movies. Great clip posted here, but a few more seconds would have showed Moore and Marvin's faces at the wedding. What a funny sight. A very underapprieciated movie "Shout at the Devil" is, what a shame that fact is." Critic Roger Ebert wrote: "Shout at the Devil" isn't great cinema, but it's great fun." A big, dumb, silly movie that's impossible to dislike. It's so cheerfully corny, so willing to involve its heroes in every possible predicament, that after awhile we relax: This is the kind of movie they used to make, back when audiences were supposed to have the mentality of a 12-year-old. It's great to be 12 again." Well, be that as it may, from what I saw of it, Shout at the Devil was tough to get through from the start. Its something to do with the pacing, the cinematography, the natives, or god knows what else, but at 2.5 hours long, this is very long indeed. I just was not in the mood. Starring Lee Marvin, Roger Moore, Barbara Parkins Director: Peter R. Hunt (also directed On Her Majesty's Secret Service) NOTES about the film: 1 There was enormous controversy about the film being made in South Africa under the apartheid regime. Roger Moore was also heavily criticized for making The Great Gold Conspiracy (1974) and The Wild Geese (1978) in South Africa during the apartheid era. 2 The story of the film was inspired by one of the most spectacular and adventurous events that took place during WWI, in German East Africa, later Tanganyika, later still Tanzania, in late 1914 - early 1915, known as Battle of Rufiji Delta, in which the German light cruiser SMS Königsberg was blockaded and finally sunk by various British units. Runtime: 150 min Sound Mix: Mono Color: Color (Technicolor) Country: UK Language: English | German (some dialogue) Release Date: 20 May 1976 (Netherlands)