Long unseen due to legal complications, Plunder of the Sun is now available on DVD and recently popped up on TCM. It was worth the wait. Glenn Ford is excellent as usual as Al Colby, an American who succumbs to temptation and gets involved in the artifact smuggling trade in Latin America. For the princely sum of $1,000, he's hired by Berrien (Sydney Greenstreet stand in Francis Sullivan) to transport the Maguffin from Cuba to Mexico. Things get complicated when Berrien turns up dead, and Colby finds others on the trail of his valuable package. The film features outstanding cinematography by Jack Draper--whose atmospheric, carefully lit work is best known to baby boomers thanks to his work on horror films such as Curse of the Crying Woman and World of the Vampires--and magnificent location footage of the Oaxaca ruins. Also noteworthy is the supporting cast, which includes bleach blonde Irish thespian Sean McClory and the brilliant veteran character actor Charles Rooner, an unheralded talent whose performance as a dissipated doctor in 1947's La Perla remains a landmark of cinematic malevolence.
20 Reviews
Flawed but Enjoyable Action Movie
claudio_carvalho2 April 2009
Warning: Spoilers
The insurance adjuster Al Colby (Glenn Ford) is interrogated by the Mexican authorities about the trail of dead bodies behind him. When the personnel from the American Consulate arrive to talk to Colby, he tells that his journey had begun in Havana, Cuba, where he was short of money. Colby is contacted by Thomas Berrien (Francis L. Sullivan), a crooked collector of antiquities that offers one thousand dollars to him to travel by ship to Oaxaca, Mexico, smuggling a small package. During the voyage, Thomas dies in his cabin, and Colby opens the package and finds three parchments and one medal of stone. When he is contacted by the rival of Thomas, the archaeologist Jefferson (Sean McClory), he discovers that the parchments contain information about a hidden treasure in the Zapotecan ruins of Mitla.
"Plunder of the Sun" is a flawed but enjoyable action movie of treasure hunting and double-crossing. Glenn Ford performs an ambiguous and amoral adventurer that is motivated by money only. There are several silly moments, like for example the tiger men removed by chisel by archaeologists that do not see the loose stone; or the heavy statue falling over Jefferson; or the conclusion with Dr. Ulbaldo Navarro (Julio Villareal) clearing his situation. The funniest scene is when he tells Julie Barnes, performed by Diana Lynn, that she would not be threatened by the sacrifice of virgins by the Zapotecans. Nevertheless the movie is entertaining and was filmed in the Zapotecan ruins of Mitla and Monte Alban. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "Pergaminho Fatídico" ("Fatidic Parchment")
"Plunder of the Sun" is a flawed but enjoyable action movie of treasure hunting and double-crossing. Glenn Ford performs an ambiguous and amoral adventurer that is motivated by money only. There are several silly moments, like for example the tiger men removed by chisel by archaeologists that do not see the loose stone; or the heavy statue falling over Jefferson; or the conclusion with Dr. Ulbaldo Navarro (Julio Villareal) clearing his situation. The funniest scene is when he tells Julie Barnes, performed by Diana Lynn, that she would not be threatened by the sacrifice of virgins by the Zapotecans. Nevertheless the movie is entertaining and was filmed in the Zapotecan ruins of Mitla and Monte Alban. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "Pergaminho Fatídico" ("Fatidic Parchment")
Good elements, doesn't add up to anything great
funkyfry26 September 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Glenn Ford has one of his strongest roles in John Farrow's "Plunder of the Sun", playing a debt collector in over his head in the stolen antiquities market in Cuba and Mexico. The film is unique in its time and genre in that the entire film was made on location in Mexico, and the ancient ruins provide an interesting backdrop to the story and characters. It's a fun movie but ultimately all the build-up doesn't really lead to anything as interesting as it seemed it might.
There are many elements here that will remind the viewer of Huston's "Maltese Falcon" the general theme centered around a stolen cultural artifact, the fat man with mysterious motives (in this case, Francis L. Sullivan), the weird violent guy chasing after the treasure (a bleached blond Sean McClory), etc. And then of course we also have some of the elements that are typical of many suspense films of the 40s/50s (the "noir" kind): the spoiled rich party girl Julie (Diana Lynn), devoted but devious glamour lady Anna (Patricia Medina), and a decidedly ambiguous leading man in Ford's Al Colby.
So essentially we have a not-so-original story set in a very different and more convincing (because it's real) exotic setting, for what it's worth. I really enjoyed the scenes with Colby exploring the ruins when he first arrives in Mexico. Later we find that his character has apparently had a true spiritual epiphany on this occasion although his narrative comments only hint at this and he remains his typical ambiguous self through the rest of the film even going so far as to rob the ruins with the imminently unpleasant archaeologist Jefferson (McClory). This is typical of the problems I see in this film the resolution for the characters seemed in almost every case to be at odds with how they had been established earlier in the film, and there was little in the way of effective development to explain these changes. The film spends so much time building up the Julie character as a hussy from the Gloria Grahame school, but then it blows off all that steam with a lame hospital bedroom confessional scene. I really am not sure what they were trying to do with the Anna character. At times Farrow's direction and the costuming seemed to imply a kind of religious iconography, especially in the scene where Anna enters the room where Colby is arguing with Mexican archaeologist Navarro, with a procession behind her, wearing a kind of veil, and holding a gun in front of her like the rosary you could call her the may queen of death. But the film didn't really establish her very well as either a "fatale" character or a mature partner for the hero like most the characters in this film her actions seem arbitrary and to depend only on the circumstances that the plot demands. Speaking of Navarro, he's so underdeveloped that it's very jarring to find him later having an important impact on the plot's resolution. We don't even get his credit on IMDb, much less on the film itself, so I don't even know who played the role.
Ford's strong characterization provides enough impetus to carry the film along; the writers apparently saw "Gilda" and decided that Glenn Ford would be even more popular if he was a complete misogynist. There are some really fun lines of dialog that he throws out there in his cynical way. I enjoyed the scenes where he devised the code to try to fool Navarro. McClory was also very impressive in a menacing character role. There are numerous small character parts that are all handled with great consistency by director Farrow.
A final note one interesting aspect of this movie is that the various "hiding places" used in the film are all so terribly obvious that it's almost impossible to believe it was accidental. And I believe there was even a line of dialog in the film about the best hiding place being the most obvious one. Thus Ford hides the parchment in his shoes (duh!), with the hotel lobby clerk, etc. And then when they find the treasure it's "hidden" in a spot where tourists stroll by every day. After absconding with the treasure McClory and his accomplice "hide" in the warehouse of the city museum! I'm not really sure if there was a deeper reason why this theme was being addressed, but it does also apply to the film's romantic resolutions. Colby ends up with Anna, the first woman he speaks to in the film and one who he expected to sleep with that very night, and Julie ends up with Navarro's son, who she has seemed to take for granted through the entire film. Possibly this is an element that was interesting in the novel but underplayed in the film, I'm really not sure having never read the book.
There are many elements here that will remind the viewer of Huston's "Maltese Falcon" the general theme centered around a stolen cultural artifact, the fat man with mysterious motives (in this case, Francis L. Sullivan), the weird violent guy chasing after the treasure (a bleached blond Sean McClory), etc. And then of course we also have some of the elements that are typical of many suspense films of the 40s/50s (the "noir" kind): the spoiled rich party girl Julie (Diana Lynn), devoted but devious glamour lady Anna (Patricia Medina), and a decidedly ambiguous leading man in Ford's Al Colby.
So essentially we have a not-so-original story set in a very different and more convincing (because it's real) exotic setting, for what it's worth. I really enjoyed the scenes with Colby exploring the ruins when he first arrives in Mexico. Later we find that his character has apparently had a true spiritual epiphany on this occasion although his narrative comments only hint at this and he remains his typical ambiguous self through the rest of the film even going so far as to rob the ruins with the imminently unpleasant archaeologist Jefferson (McClory). This is typical of the problems I see in this film the resolution for the characters seemed in almost every case to be at odds with how they had been established earlier in the film, and there was little in the way of effective development to explain these changes. The film spends so much time building up the Julie character as a hussy from the Gloria Grahame school, but then it blows off all that steam with a lame hospital bedroom confessional scene. I really am not sure what they were trying to do with the Anna character. At times Farrow's direction and the costuming seemed to imply a kind of religious iconography, especially in the scene where Anna enters the room where Colby is arguing with Mexican archaeologist Navarro, with a procession behind her, wearing a kind of veil, and holding a gun in front of her like the rosary you could call her the may queen of death. But the film didn't really establish her very well as either a "fatale" character or a mature partner for the hero like most the characters in this film her actions seem arbitrary and to depend only on the circumstances that the plot demands. Speaking of Navarro, he's so underdeveloped that it's very jarring to find him later having an important impact on the plot's resolution. We don't even get his credit on IMDb, much less on the film itself, so I don't even know who played the role.
Ford's strong characterization provides enough impetus to carry the film along; the writers apparently saw "Gilda" and decided that Glenn Ford would be even more popular if he was a complete misogynist. There are some really fun lines of dialog that he throws out there in his cynical way. I enjoyed the scenes where he devised the code to try to fool Navarro. McClory was also very impressive in a menacing character role. There are numerous small character parts that are all handled with great consistency by director Farrow.
A final note one interesting aspect of this movie is that the various "hiding places" used in the film are all so terribly obvious that it's almost impossible to believe it was accidental. And I believe there was even a line of dialog in the film about the best hiding place being the most obvious one. Thus Ford hides the parchment in his shoes (duh!), with the hotel lobby clerk, etc. And then when they find the treasure it's "hidden" in a spot where tourists stroll by every day. After absconding with the treasure McClory and his accomplice "hide" in the warehouse of the city museum! I'm not really sure if there was a deeper reason why this theme was being addressed, but it does also apply to the film's romantic resolutions. Colby ends up with Anna, the first woman he speaks to in the film and one who he expected to sleep with that very night, and Julie ends up with Navarro's son, who she has seemed to take for granted through the entire film. Possibly this is an element that was interesting in the novel but underplayed in the film, I'm really not sure having never read the book.
A good action/mystery with a fine cast
bux15 September 2001
David Dodge's novel is brought to the screen with Ford excellent as protagonist Al Colby. The script however, plays fast and loose with the novel, changing the locale from Peru to Mexico and now the search is on for Aztec artifacts instead of Incan. All things considered, this is a tightly directed and well acted tale. It has not been available for viewing as it seems to be tied up in litigation along with "Island in the Sky"(1953) and "The High and the Mighty"(1954)as the Wayne Family battles Warner Brothers and we are the losers.
An Odd Film Noir Mystery!
bsmith555221 August 2018
Warning: Spoilers
"Plunder of the Sun" is a black and white film noir that probably should have been made in the 40s with a different cast. More about that later.
Al Colby (Glenn Ford) is a broke insurance adjuster wandering the streets of pre-Castro Havana when he is approached by a beautiful woman Anna Luz (Patricia Medina) who uses her considerable charms to lure him back to her home. There Colby discovers that it was a ruse to draw him there. Anna's benefactor Thomas Berrian (Francis L. Sullivan) offers Colby $1,000 to smuggle a small package from Cuba to Mexico without disclosing the package's contents.
On board a ship bound for Mexico, Colby encounters Jefferson (Sean McClory) a blond sunglassed mystery man who tries to befriend Colby. He also meets boozy Julie Barnes (Diana Lynn) who is in the company of Raul (Eduardo Noriega) a Mexican playboy. Later Berrian turns up dead so Colby carefully opens the package and then secures its contents. It turns out that the package contained a sculpted medallion and three pages of an ancient script showing the location of a treasure buried beneath the ruins of an ancient Mexican city.
Jefferson thinks he steals the contents of the package from Colby's room but Colby out smarts him. Colby then goes to Novarro (Julio Villarreal) to have the pages translated...from a copy. It seems that Raul is Novarro's son and is betrothed to Anna. While awaiting the results of Novarro's translation, Colby forges an unlikely partnership with Jefferson who translates the pages.
Colby and Jefferson then go to the ruins and through information contained in the script, find the portal leading to the buried treasure. Then Jefferson double crosses Colby, shoots him, leaves him for dead and..............................
This movie I think, could have been much better with a different cast. Glenn Ford for example, is miscast in the lead. I can see Humphrey Bogart or even Robert Mitchum in the role. And wouldn't Peter Lorre have made a better Jefferson? Claire Trevor would have been great as Julie the girl; with a past. While Francis L. Sullivan as good as he was in his role, I couldn't help but imagine Sydney Greesterrt in the part. Douglass Dumbrille who has the thankless role as the American Consul, would have been better suited for a role similar to that of Novarro. Can't think of any one better for Anna Luz than the beautiful Medina.
The black and white photography is excellent and the shots of the ancient Mexican ruins are impressive.
Al Colby (Glenn Ford) is a broke insurance adjuster wandering the streets of pre-Castro Havana when he is approached by a beautiful woman Anna Luz (Patricia Medina) who uses her considerable charms to lure him back to her home. There Colby discovers that it was a ruse to draw him there. Anna's benefactor Thomas Berrian (Francis L. Sullivan) offers Colby $1,000 to smuggle a small package from Cuba to Mexico without disclosing the package's contents.
On board a ship bound for Mexico, Colby encounters Jefferson (Sean McClory) a blond sunglassed mystery man who tries to befriend Colby. He also meets boozy Julie Barnes (Diana Lynn) who is in the company of Raul (Eduardo Noriega) a Mexican playboy. Later Berrian turns up dead so Colby carefully opens the package and then secures its contents. It turns out that the package contained a sculpted medallion and three pages of an ancient script showing the location of a treasure buried beneath the ruins of an ancient Mexican city.
Jefferson thinks he steals the contents of the package from Colby's room but Colby out smarts him. Colby then goes to Novarro (Julio Villarreal) to have the pages translated...from a copy. It seems that Raul is Novarro's son and is betrothed to Anna. While awaiting the results of Novarro's translation, Colby forges an unlikely partnership with Jefferson who translates the pages.
Colby and Jefferson then go to the ruins and through information contained in the script, find the portal leading to the buried treasure. Then Jefferson double crosses Colby, shoots him, leaves him for dead and..............................
This movie I think, could have been much better with a different cast. Glenn Ford for example, is miscast in the lead. I can see Humphrey Bogart or even Robert Mitchum in the role. And wouldn't Peter Lorre have made a better Jefferson? Claire Trevor would have been great as Julie the girl; with a past. While Francis L. Sullivan as good as he was in his role, I couldn't help but imagine Sydney Greesterrt in the part. Douglass Dumbrille who has the thankless role as the American Consul, would have been better suited for a role similar to that of Novarro. Can't think of any one better for Anna Luz than the beautiful Medina.
The black and white photography is excellent and the shots of the ancient Mexican ruins are impressive.
too calm
SnoopyStyle23 October 2021
American Al Colby (Glenn Ford) arrives in Havana. Femme fatale Anna Luz (Patricia Medina) recruits him to help her and her collector husband Thomas Berrien to smuggle a small package into Mexico.
Glenn Ford is too calm and collected. It has two effects. It doesn't really fit the role and his calmness saps away the tension. He acts like he expects to be recruited. The story would work much better if he's an average tourist falling for Anna and getting pulled into something that is over his head. He rarely acts like he's in danger. It suppresses the tension.
Glenn Ford is too calm and collected. It has two effects. It doesn't really fit the role and his calmness saps away the tension. He acts like he expects to be recruited. The story would work much better if he's an average tourist falling for Anna and getting pulled into something that is over his head. He rarely acts like he's in danger. It suppresses the tension.
Greed, Buried Treasure, and Glenn Ford, too!
cariart8 October 2006
While much of Glenn Ford's early 1950s film output are unabashedly 'B' movies (he filled the same niche as Robert Mitchum did, at RKO), the movies are, by and large, very entertaining, and "Plunder of the Sun", shot in Mexico for Warners and John Wayne's Batjac Productions, is no exception. Directed by John Farrow, this action drama offers noir elements (an ambiguous hero, a 'fallen' woman, brutal violence, and an 'expressionist' use of light and shadow), John Huston-like characters (reminiscent of both "The Maltese Falcon" and "Treasure of Sierra Madre"), and an actually pretty accurate look at ancient Indian civilizations that built cities with pyramids when Europe consisted of little more than tribes.
Ford is Al Colby, a down-on-his-luck American recruited by rotund Thomas Berrien (Sidney Greenstreet-channeling Francis L. Sullivan) to slip a package through Mexican customs. When Berrien unexpectedly dies, a variety of characters offers Colby money, potential treasure, or his life, in exchange for the mysterious package, which he discovers contains part of an ancient document mapping where a hidden cache of priceless artifacts is buried. Seduced by both beautiful native girl Patricia Medina, who seems involved with all the 'major players', and drunken American 'party girl' Diana Lynn (doing a 'Gloria Grahame' impression), and 'educated' through beatings and genial lectures by the mysterious 'Jefferson' (scene-stealing Sean McClory), Colby teeters between succumbing to the vast wealth the document promises, and 'doing the right thing', and turning everything over to the Mexican authorities, who legally 'own' the artifacts. While Ford's portrayal lacks the subtle shadings of Bogart or Mitchum, he handles the moral dilemma quite well, and he certainly can take a beating!
With much of the action filmed at actual Aztec sites, in Oaxaca, Mexico, the film has an authentic 'feel', is fast-paced, and very watchable.
Certainly worth a look!
Ford is Al Colby, a down-on-his-luck American recruited by rotund Thomas Berrien (Sidney Greenstreet-channeling Francis L. Sullivan) to slip a package through Mexican customs. When Berrien unexpectedly dies, a variety of characters offers Colby money, potential treasure, or his life, in exchange for the mysterious package, which he discovers contains part of an ancient document mapping where a hidden cache of priceless artifacts is buried. Seduced by both beautiful native girl Patricia Medina, who seems involved with all the 'major players', and drunken American 'party girl' Diana Lynn (doing a 'Gloria Grahame' impression), and 'educated' through beatings and genial lectures by the mysterious 'Jefferson' (scene-stealing Sean McClory), Colby teeters between succumbing to the vast wealth the document promises, and 'doing the right thing', and turning everything over to the Mexican authorities, who legally 'own' the artifacts. While Ford's portrayal lacks the subtle shadings of Bogart or Mitchum, he handles the moral dilemma quite well, and he certainly can take a beating!
With much of the action filmed at actual Aztec sites, in Oaxaca, Mexico, the film has an authentic 'feel', is fast-paced, and very watchable.
Certainly worth a look!
Not a film to be treasured
bkoganbing9 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
I'm sure the primary reason that Glenn Ford and the rest of the cast did Plunder of the Sun is that they got a chance to film the whole story on location in Havana and later on in the Mexican city of Oaxaca. Pity they didn't shoot the thing in color.
I for one was disappointed that Francis L. Sullivan was killed right at the beginning of the film after he hires Glenn Ford to smuggle a small package into Mexico on board a ship that set sail from Havana. Sullivan is always good and I certainly looked forward to a film where he was once again the villainous mastermind.
What Ford was carrying was some ancient Aztec writings about a buried treasure located in Oaxaca. And then a whole bunch of people come into his life ready and willing to be his partner. Including the beautiful Patricia Medina and the trampy Diana Lynn. Lynn was surprisingly good as an alcoholic, poaching on the kind of parts Gloria Grahame took out a patent on. I wouldn't be surprised if Grahame wasn't who Batjac productions had in mind for the part originally.
My guess is that the film had a lot of relevant parts left on the cutting room floor. Scenes changed without any transition and characters seemed to be left without motivation. And Sean McClory really looked dumb in a blond wig. Detracted from his performance as a rapacious and disgraced archaeologist, an Indiana Jones gone to seed.
John Wayne produced this and had the good sense not to star.
I for one was disappointed that Francis L. Sullivan was killed right at the beginning of the film after he hires Glenn Ford to smuggle a small package into Mexico on board a ship that set sail from Havana. Sullivan is always good and I certainly looked forward to a film where he was once again the villainous mastermind.
What Ford was carrying was some ancient Aztec writings about a buried treasure located in Oaxaca. And then a whole bunch of people come into his life ready and willing to be his partner. Including the beautiful Patricia Medina and the trampy Diana Lynn. Lynn was surprisingly good as an alcoholic, poaching on the kind of parts Gloria Grahame took out a patent on. I wouldn't be surprised if Grahame wasn't who Batjac productions had in mind for the part originally.
My guess is that the film had a lot of relevant parts left on the cutting room floor. Scenes changed without any transition and characters seemed to be left without motivation. And Sean McClory really looked dumb in a blond wig. Detracted from his performance as a rapacious and disgraced archaeologist, an Indiana Jones gone to seed.
John Wayne produced this and had the good sense not to star.
Ok we've seen it before
hiflyer-6605623 October 2021
I only decided to review this film after seeing other reviews that I feel had an unfair opinion of a honest work. The performances are excellent and the location and cinematography is beautiful. This film is very atmospheric and enjoyable in my opinion. Give it a look.
Read the book
Rand-Al20 March 2004
Not much of David Dodge's novel remains in this film version, other than the names of some of the characters and the basic plot. American insurance investigator Al Colby is hired to smuggle a package out of Havana and into Oaxaca, Mexico. When the man who hired him is murdered aboard ship, Colby decides to find out what he is carrying and why it is worth killing for. Unscrupulous antiquities dealers, disgraced archaeologists, and desperate women all clash in a search for buried Zapotecan treasure. Glenn Ford is serviceable as Al Colby, but the plot is murky, the characters are under-developed, and the location is inexplicably changed from Peru to Mexico. Although it is long out-of-print, copies of the book are still relatively easy to find (unlike prints of this film, which is still tied up in Wayne estate litigation), and reading the book is a much better use of one's time.
Ford was Outstanding
whpratt110 June 2006
Glenn Ford,(Al Colby),"The Big Heat",'53 played an insurance man down on his luck in Mexico and meets up with Patricia Medina,(Anna Luz),"The Beast of Hollow Mountain",'56, who buys Al Colby a drink and makes sexual advances toward him and manages to involve him with a man who gives Al a package to deliver for $1,000 and that makes Al very happy, because he is completely broke. Diana Lynn,(Julie Barnes),"Track of the Cat",'54, plays the role of a sexy blond who is drunk most of the time and is always trying to get Al Colby into bed with her. It seems that Al Colby has some secrets that concern a very wealthy treasure and everyone either wants to kill him or go in business with him. Glenn Ford was at the top of his career and gave an outstanding performance.
I felt pretty bored by all this...and little of it seemed believable.
planktonrules7 October 2011
I have never read the original novel by David Dodge, so I cannot in any way compare this movie to his book. I assume the other reviewer who felt the book was MUCH better was right--that usually is the case.
It's worth seeing this film just so you can get a glimpse of 1950's Cuba. There are only a few films set there (a couple of Errol Flynn's last films were shot there) and it's a nice chance to see the country--as most Americans have never been there or seen the place in films.
The film begins in Mexico. Glenn Ford is being held by the authorities and a worker from the US Consulate tells him to explain what happened. So, Ford begins to talk and the film flashes back one week to Havana. It seems he's been stranded there without funds and is waiting and hoping a letter with money soon arrives. When an odd man in a wheelchair offers him way too much money to deliver an 'unimportant trinket', Ford rightly figures that it's VERY important. And soon he's on his way to Mexico to go treasure hunting.
All in all, it's amazing how uninteresting the film becomes. While it all concerns a HUGE treasure trove, the film never seems very realistic nor exciting. It's hard to put my finger on it, but I felt pretty bored bored during all these betrayals, drunken brawls and the like. Much of it was, I think, because Ford's dealings with the white-haired man never made much sense. Also what made no sense was the casting of Diana Lynn. At times the film tried to have her behave like a vamp or femme fatale--it was akin to seeing Donna Douglas or June Lockhart doing this! She just seemed ill at ease and the wrong lady for such a role. Cute and perky yes---a drunken slut, certainly not!
It's worth seeing this film just so you can get a glimpse of 1950's Cuba. There are only a few films set there (a couple of Errol Flynn's last films were shot there) and it's a nice chance to see the country--as most Americans have never been there or seen the place in films.
The film begins in Mexico. Glenn Ford is being held by the authorities and a worker from the US Consulate tells him to explain what happened. So, Ford begins to talk and the film flashes back one week to Havana. It seems he's been stranded there without funds and is waiting and hoping a letter with money soon arrives. When an odd man in a wheelchair offers him way too much money to deliver an 'unimportant trinket', Ford rightly figures that it's VERY important. And soon he's on his way to Mexico to go treasure hunting.
All in all, it's amazing how uninteresting the film becomes. While it all concerns a HUGE treasure trove, the film never seems very realistic nor exciting. It's hard to put my finger on it, but I felt pretty bored bored during all these betrayals, drunken brawls and the like. Much of it was, I think, because Ford's dealings with the white-haired man never made much sense. Also what made no sense was the casting of Diana Lynn. At times the film tried to have her behave like a vamp or femme fatale--it was akin to seeing Donna Douglas or June Lockhart doing this! She just seemed ill at ease and the wrong lady for such a role. Cute and perky yes---a drunken slut, certainly not!
An adventure of intrigue and mystery set in Mexico
SimonJack31 December 2022
"Plunder of the Sun" is a very good and interesting story of adventure, mystery, crime and drama. It's an adaptation of a 1949 novel of the same title by David Dodge. That was set in Peru and the film adaptation is set in Mexico. Many in the fine cast contribute to the intrigue of the story.
Glenn Ford is Al Colby, an American adventurer. Francis L. Sullivan plays Thomas Berrien, a collector of ancient artifacts. Patricia Medina plays his wife. Diana Lynn plays Julie Barnes, Sean McClory plays Jefferson, and Douglass Dumbrille plays the American Consul.
The movie was shot on location in Oaxaca, Mexico. And, it also has some excellent scenes of archaeological sites in the area. Places like the ruins of Monte Alban and others are in scenes of the film. So, it also provides a little education in ancient history and geography. All those who enjoy mysteries should like this film.
Glenn Ford is Al Colby, an American adventurer. Francis L. Sullivan plays Thomas Berrien, a collector of ancient artifacts. Patricia Medina plays his wife. Diana Lynn plays Julie Barnes, Sean McClory plays Jefferson, and Douglass Dumbrille plays the American Consul.
The movie was shot on location in Oaxaca, Mexico. And, it also has some excellent scenes of archaeological sites in the area. Places like the ruins of Monte Alban and others are in scenes of the film. So, it also provides a little education in ancient history and geography. All those who enjoy mysteries should like this film.
Pastiche
rmax30482331 July 2012
Warning: Spoilers
There is some impressive location shooting here. Nice shots of Zapotec ruins in Oaxaca, in southern Mexico, along with explanations of what it is we're looking at. Those ball courts at Monte Alban are pretty old. Some courts date to 1600 BCE. They had a flourishing civilization in Mesoamerica then. Know what was going on in Europe in 1600 BCE? Nothing.
All these monuments and ball courts at Monte Alban don't impress the pragmatic American hero much. That would be Glenn Ford. "This is literally a doorway to the past," he narrates. Then he walks through the door and it's all forgotten because it's eclipsed by intrigues sexual and economic, and everything is dominated by the search for a hidden treasure. Bing Crosby and Bob Hope did this sort of thing better.
It's almost a film noir pastiche. The bluesy musical score is a parody. There are scenes derived from, oh, I don't know -- "Murder My Sweet," various adaptations of Raymond Chandler, "Out of the Past," and "The Maltese Falcon." Ford, out of money in Mexico, which is -- I grant you -- a desperate condition to be sure, gives us the hard-boiled narration. "I took a black hairpin and a hunch and parlayed it into action." He's offered a thousand dollars to do a simple job of smuggling an envelope from Cuba into Mexico and it turns into a spider's web of villainy, greed, and betrayals. Ford gets knocked out. He knocks others out. A snub-nosed revolver is heard discharging from time to time. Patricia Medina is a good girl, or maybe not.
Diana Lynn is definitely a bad girl. She was a cute teen ager in "The Major and the Minor" and in "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek." Here, ten years older, she essays the Gloria Grahame role but it's not her style but, I swear, if you close your eyes and listen to her voice she sounds exactly like Gloria Grahame. She's an attractive woman but I suppose the director has given her instructions to hold her shoulders back in order to thrust out her bosom. The result is an awkward bird-like posture that doesn't get more graceful when she moves around.
Ford, who could be good, is wooden and inexpressive. And the worst casting error was making Sean McClory the worst of the heavies. They've died his hair blond and given him a flat top haircut. He always wears shades. And, no matter how hard he tries, he can't hide his Irish accent. He's handled roles that were mostly cheerfully comic but sometimes dramatic ("Island in the Sky") but as a slimy villain -- no.
The best feature of the film is the location. The rest isn't worth going out of your way for. It's pretty humdrum.
All these monuments and ball courts at Monte Alban don't impress the pragmatic American hero much. That would be Glenn Ford. "This is literally a doorway to the past," he narrates. Then he walks through the door and it's all forgotten because it's eclipsed by intrigues sexual and economic, and everything is dominated by the search for a hidden treasure. Bing Crosby and Bob Hope did this sort of thing better.
It's almost a film noir pastiche. The bluesy musical score is a parody. There are scenes derived from, oh, I don't know -- "Murder My Sweet," various adaptations of Raymond Chandler, "Out of the Past," and "The Maltese Falcon." Ford, out of money in Mexico, which is -- I grant you -- a desperate condition to be sure, gives us the hard-boiled narration. "I took a black hairpin and a hunch and parlayed it into action." He's offered a thousand dollars to do a simple job of smuggling an envelope from Cuba into Mexico and it turns into a spider's web of villainy, greed, and betrayals. Ford gets knocked out. He knocks others out. A snub-nosed revolver is heard discharging from time to time. Patricia Medina is a good girl, or maybe not.
Diana Lynn is definitely a bad girl. She was a cute teen ager in "The Major and the Minor" and in "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek." Here, ten years older, she essays the Gloria Grahame role but it's not her style but, I swear, if you close your eyes and listen to her voice she sounds exactly like Gloria Grahame. She's an attractive woman but I suppose the director has given her instructions to hold her shoulders back in order to thrust out her bosom. The result is an awkward bird-like posture that doesn't get more graceful when she moves around.
Ford, who could be good, is wooden and inexpressive. And the worst casting error was making Sean McClory the worst of the heavies. They've died his hair blond and given him a flat top haircut. He always wears shades. And, no matter how hard he tries, he can't hide his Irish accent. He's handled roles that were mostly cheerfully comic but sometimes dramatic ("Island in the Sky") but as a slimy villain -- no.
The best feature of the film is the location. The rest isn't worth going out of your way for. It's pretty humdrum.
When The Blunder For Plunder Has Gone A-Sunder
strong-122-4788858 December 2013
Even though American insurance adjuster, Al Colby (who was presently visiting Havana, Cuba) was somewhat of a disagreeable brute who thought nothing of shoving around both men and women whenever it suited his mood, he was still deemed so irresistible that he found not one, but two, sexy babes lusting after him as if he were the hottest hunk in tweed trousers.
With that in mind, I found Plunder Of The Sun (POTS) to be one of the most clichéd, predictable and, yes, decidedly dumb Crime/Adventure stories (with its preposterous double-whammy romance, thrown in for good measure) that I've seen, from the good, old 1950s, in a mighty long time.
Featuring some real goof-ball villains, annoying/boring femme fatales and various implausible (and highly laughable) situations, POTS' story about hunting for hidden treasure amongst the ancient ruins and pyramids at Monte Alban, Mexico, just didn't have what it takes to cut the mustard, from my point of view.
With its story being told mainly through flashbacks, including lots of voice-over narration by Al Colby (Glenn Ford's less-than-appealing character), POTS was definitely one of those movies that left this viewer quite dissatisfied and thinking to himself that this picture certainly had the potential to be a whole lot better than it was.
Even though POTS' running time was only a mere 80 minutes, it sure seemed to me that so much of the general action was all but worthless and easily forgettable.
As well, this film certainly lost a lot of its overall entertainment value by being filmed in stark b&w.
The many scenes that were shot amongst the Zapotec ruins near Oaxaca, Mexico, would have been so absolutely wonderful to behold had they been given the full Technicolor treatment.
And, finally, I thought that, as an actor, Glenn Ford was not at all well-suited for his part. Like, c'mon, Al Colby (that face-slapping heel) actually had 2 fairly hot women throwing themselves at him regardless of what dangers this might have posed to their immediate safety.
And, to me, that was preposterous beyond words.
With that in mind, I found Plunder Of The Sun (POTS) to be one of the most clichéd, predictable and, yes, decidedly dumb Crime/Adventure stories (with its preposterous double-whammy romance, thrown in for good measure) that I've seen, from the good, old 1950s, in a mighty long time.
Featuring some real goof-ball villains, annoying/boring femme fatales and various implausible (and highly laughable) situations, POTS' story about hunting for hidden treasure amongst the ancient ruins and pyramids at Monte Alban, Mexico, just didn't have what it takes to cut the mustard, from my point of view.
With its story being told mainly through flashbacks, including lots of voice-over narration by Al Colby (Glenn Ford's less-than-appealing character), POTS was definitely one of those movies that left this viewer quite dissatisfied and thinking to himself that this picture certainly had the potential to be a whole lot better than it was.
Even though POTS' running time was only a mere 80 minutes, it sure seemed to me that so much of the general action was all but worthless and easily forgettable.
As well, this film certainly lost a lot of its overall entertainment value by being filmed in stark b&w.
The many scenes that were shot amongst the Zapotec ruins near Oaxaca, Mexico, would have been so absolutely wonderful to behold had they been given the full Technicolor treatment.
And, finally, I thought that, as an actor, Glenn Ford was not at all well-suited for his part. Like, c'mon, Al Colby (that face-slapping heel) actually had 2 fairly hot women throwing themselves at him regardless of what dangers this might have posed to their immediate safety.
And, to me, that was preposterous beyond words.
Gold Things Come in Small Packages
wes-connors1 August 2012
San Francisco insurance adjuster Glenn Ford (as Al Colby) is in hot water. He tells US authorities in Mexico what put him there
Quickly, we flashback as Mr. Ford arrives in Havana, Cuba. Strapped for cash, Ford meets alluring Patricia Medina (as Anna Luz) at a bar and takes a job offered by her old and ailing companion Francis L. Sullivan (as Thomas Berrien). Plagued by a bad heart and confined to a wheelchair, Mr. Sullivan hires Ford to help them smuggle a small package into Mexico. En route, the newly formed trio meet sneaky blond Sean McClory (as Jefferson), who is interested in small packages. Ford also encounters tipsy tramp Diana Lynn (as Julie Barnes), who propositions him with the line, "I like well built men." Finally, the package Ford is carrying opens, and mysteries are revealed. Unfortunately the plot thins and several in the cast act types rather than parts. However, the location photography by Jack Draper makes it nice looking.
***** Plunder of the Sun (8/26/53) John Farrow ~ Glenn Ford, Patricia Medina, Diana Lynn, Sean McClory
***** Plunder of the Sun (8/26/53) John Farrow ~ Glenn Ford, Patricia Medina, Diana Lynn, Sean McClory
thin but pungent noir
Hunt254630 July 2012
Thin, ultimately silly film is given unearned heft by virtue of Jack Draper's cinematography which turns ancient Mexican ruins into the nightmare city of classic noir, the wet streets and shadowy alleys that are the essence of the genre. Glenn Ford is sour and surly as an American insurance man who travels the tropics with a full wardrobe of tweed suits (maybe that's why he's so grim). Down on his luck in a vividly evoked pre-Castro Cuba, he signs on to smuggle a certain antiquity BACK into the Mexico from whence it came for reaasons that never make much sense. Soon there are three or four factions vying for whatever he has taped under his left nipple: a sleazy archaeologist (Sean McClory), an American hot thang with plasticene-brassiere breasts that jut like nose cones (Dianna Lynne), a sultry hispanic gal (Patricia Medina), and finally some kind of Mexican expert and his thug son. There's too much fist fighting over a gun--Glenn and Sean duke it out about four times over Sean's Colt Detective Special--and the whole thing never makes much sense. But damn, it looks GREAT! Don't know who this Draper guy is--he seems mostly to have worked in Mexico--but his deep focus photography really brings the location to menacing, palpable life. The best passage follows as Ford evokes the ruins and what they mean to dim, pointy-titted Lynne, and it's pre-PC so he's able to make vivid the human sacrifice that blasphemed the place and thus give it a vibration of tragedy and death otherwise unearned in the movie. The other delight is McClory's debauched archaeologist, under a blonde crewcut and some heavy tortoise-shell specs. He's very vivid and far more charismatic than the dreary, mumbly Ford The movie really looses it in its climax, and ends in a silly shootout and fistfight in a backlot Hollywood set that wastes all the good will it had built up with the location work; suddenly, it looks like early TV and in a sense it has become early TV.
Theme Of Archeology
Lechuguilla2 August 2009
Illegal looting of ancient human artifacts is the unusual theme of this adventure story, set mostly in Mexico. Told in flashback, the lead character is a man named Al Colby (Glenn Ford) who gets involved in intrigue when he agrees to deliver a small packet from Cuba to a Mexican destination via ship.
Assorted characters complicate Colby's courier task. But none of these characters are interesting, least of all the flippant Jefferson (Sean McClory), with his crew cut and awful glasses. Indeed, the main problem with the film is the script, with its contrived and hokey premise, and the Jefferson character as a villain.
On the other hand, the tours of the various archeology sites are fascinating. And if the script had dumped some of the characters and focused more on the treasure hunt, the film would have been better.
The B&W cinematography is quite good, with its dark shadows and strange camera angles. It's almost noirish. Filmed on location in Mexico, the outdoor visuals convey a sense of grand scope and historical authenticity.
Francis L. Sullivan is well cast as a shady businessman. And lovely, exotic Patricia Medina is ideal as the mysterious and sultry Anna Luz. But Glenn Ford is a poor choice for the lead role. Had he been any less animated, he could have passed for one of those stone statues at the ancient ruins.
The film is worth watching once, mostly for the outdoor visuals and the small part of the plot that deals with characters using clues to find missing treasure. But the film could have been so much more entertaining with a more adventure-minded actor in the lead role, and a plot geared more to the frustrations and unknown dangers linked to the task of finding buried treasure.
Assorted characters complicate Colby's courier task. But none of these characters are interesting, least of all the flippant Jefferson (Sean McClory), with his crew cut and awful glasses. Indeed, the main problem with the film is the script, with its contrived and hokey premise, and the Jefferson character as a villain.
On the other hand, the tours of the various archeology sites are fascinating. And if the script had dumped some of the characters and focused more on the treasure hunt, the film would have been better.
The B&W cinematography is quite good, with its dark shadows and strange camera angles. It's almost noirish. Filmed on location in Mexico, the outdoor visuals convey a sense of grand scope and historical authenticity.
Francis L. Sullivan is well cast as a shady businessman. And lovely, exotic Patricia Medina is ideal as the mysterious and sultry Anna Luz. But Glenn Ford is a poor choice for the lead role. Had he been any less animated, he could have passed for one of those stone statues at the ancient ruins.
The film is worth watching once, mostly for the outdoor visuals and the small part of the plot that deals with characters using clues to find missing treasure. But the film could have been so much more entertaining with a more adventure-minded actor in the lead role, and a plot geared more to the frustrations and unknown dangers linked to the task of finding buried treasure.
Flub
orion4714 June 2006
Near the beginning, in Mexico, Glenn Ford goes up to the bar and the bartender has on a sweater. A second later, at another angle, the sweater is gone!
This is an interesting, archaeological treasure hunt flick. The story is pretty good and the characters interesting.
I only wish it had been filmed in color so the beauty of the ruins could be seen by all. Nevertheless, even in black & white it is still beautiful.
This movie could easily be remade and brought up-to-date. Any number of today's top actors could fit into Glenn Ford's role.
This is an interesting, archaeological treasure hunt flick. The story is pretty good and the characters interesting.
I only wish it had been filmed in color so the beauty of the ruins could be seen by all. Nevertheless, even in black & white it is still beautiful.
This movie could easily be remade and brought up-to-date. Any number of today's top actors could fit into Glenn Ford's role.
plunder of the sun
mossgrymk9 November 2021
Too many wanna be's for my taste. In the first twenty minutes alone I counted three; Patricia Medina's Rita by way of Ava, Francis Sullivan's Sydney G, and S McClory's P Lorre. And then, as Snoop suggested below, there is Glenn Ford's I Don't Wanna Be as in I'm Phoning This One In. So before I could stick around for Diana Lynn's imitation (Mary Astor would be my guess) I bailed. Good location shooting, though, removes this John Farrow offering from the realm of utter crap.
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