During World War I, a British aristocrat, an American entrepreneur, and the latter's attractive young daughter, set out to destroy a German battlecruiser, which is awaiting repairs in an inlet just off Zanzibar. Just prior to World War One the hard drinking sharpshooting, Irish American Colonel Flynn O'Flynn, uses British aristocrat Sebastian Oldsmith to help poach ivory from German controlled territory in East Africa, putting them at odds with Herman Fleischer, the local German Provincial Commander. When Sebastian is infected with malaria he is nursed back to health by Flynn's daughter Rosa, they fall in love and marry. Not long after Britain declares war on Germany and they are drawn into the conflict, ultimately making a daring attack on the German armored cruiser SMS Blücher as it undergoes repairs in a local estuary. Shout at the devil proved to be a bit of a surprise to me, I expected a boring war film, but I was very positively surprised.<br/><br/>The film starred my favorite actor Roger Moore and he delivered a good performance. At 49 he looks extremely handsome, like he did in all the Bond films, Moore is an outstanding actor. Lee Marwin also starred an outstanding performance in all aspects of the movie.<br/><br/>The film was directed by Peter Hunt who also directed On Her Majesty`s Secret Service (1969), he proved then he could make a great action adventure, and he did so again. With great action sequences and some very good humour delivered brilliantly from Marwin and Moore.<br/><br/>Shout at the Devil proves to be one of the finest films of the seventies. Shout at the Devil is a bit of a mess these days. The region 2 DVD I watched had clearly fallen victim to some indifferent editor/censor's scissors, making what looks, to be fair, nothing more than a decidedly average film in the first place, perilously close to unwatchable at times. German officers who look like they were originally speaking English have been dubbed into German which, for the sake of authenticity isn't a bad thing I suppose, but whoever made this decision also decided that subtitles weren't necessary, so we have long stretches of dialogue that are completely incomprehensible to non-German speaking viewers. Strangely enough, it doesn't matter one bit with regards to understanding what is going on, and I still can't decide whether that's a good sign or bad.<br/><br/>Saddled with such a shortcoming, a film like this, which can't decide whether it's a rollicking comedy or a rousing adventure, is left with a mountain to climb but never manages to move a couple of feet from the foothills. Roger Moore, after Gregory Peck the least talented of male actors to ever attain leading man status, is the biggest problem. Despite being a former James Bond, he really isn't much of an action hero, and is never really believable in a role that calls for someone about ten years younger. Lee Marvin mugs and overacts as if he has been guzzling on the gin so beloved of his character (which he may well have been doing), but at least he's entertaining to watch and provides most of the few highlights. Unfortunately, he and Moore develop little in the way of chemistry.<br/><br/>The director makes some strange choices. While he most likely can't be blamed for the obviously bowdlerised action scenes, he can be held accountable for too often making the African landscape look like a quiet corner of Hampstead Heath, and for also choosing the wrong shot or angle on too many occasions.<br/><br/>The storyline itself is straightforward enough, although it's a little on the ordinary side and a bit too episodic in the first half. When things turn darker midway through, the trauma suffered by Moore's wife, played by Barbara Parkin, isn't explored anywhere near thoroughly enough, and the problems it causes in their marriage are focused on and dealt with in one brief scene.<br/><br/>Unless you're in the mood for bland and undemanding entertainment, and even then are in a very forgiving mood, I'd opt for James Bond film or Cat Ballou instead.
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295 weeks ago