The Wonderful Country (1959)

★ 6.1 1h 38m IMDb

Western

Having fled to Mexico from the U.S. many years ago for killing his father's murderer, Martin Brady travels to Texas to broker an arms deal for his Mexican boss, strongman Governor Cipriano Castro. Brady breaks a leg and while recuperating in Texas the gun shipment is stolen. Complicating matters further the wife of local army major Colton has designs on him, and the local Texas Ranger captain makes him a generous offer to come back to the states and join his outfit. After killing a man in self-defense, Brady slips back over the border and confronts Castro who is not only unhappy that Brady has lost his gun shipment but is about to join forces with Colton to battle the local raiding Apache Indians.

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Cast

Robert Mitchum as Martin Brady Died 1997 · Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American film actor, author, composer and singer. He was ranked #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male Amer...

Julie London as Helen Colton Died 2000 · Santa Rosa, California, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Julie London (September 26, 1926 – October 18, 2000) was an American singer and actress. She was best known for her smoky, sensual voice. London was at her singi...

Gary Merrill as Major Colton Died 1990 · Hartford, Connecticut, USA Gary Fred Merrill (August 2, 1915 – March 5, 1990) was an American film and television character actor whose credits included more than fifty feature films, a half-dozen mostly short-lived TV series,...

Albert Dekker as Cap. Rucker (Texas Ranger) Died 1968 · Brooklyn, New York, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Albert Dekker (December 20, 1905 – May 5, 1968) was an American character actor and politician best known for his roles in Dr. Cyclops, The Killers, Kiss Me Dead...

Pedro Armendáriz as Cipriano Castro Died 1963 · Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico Born in Churubusco, a suburb of Mexico City, and raised in Texas, he studied at California Polytechnic State University where he graduated with an engineering degree. He began his acting career at the...

Jack Oakie as Travis Hyle Died 1978 · Sedalia, Missouri, USA Jack Oakie (November 12, 1903 – January 23, 1978) was an American actor, starring mostly in films, but also working on stage, radio and television..

Director Robert Parrish

Cast Robert Mitchum, Julie London, Gary Merrill, Albert Dekker, Pedro Armendáriz, Jack Oakie, Charles McGraw, Anthony Caruso, Mike Kellin, Víctor Manuel Mendoza

Wuchak 6/10 Dec 26, 2021

_**Robert Mitchum caught between Mexico and America**_

A man from Missouri now living in Mexico and working for shady officials breaks his leg while conducting business in a West Texas town across the river. He has time to consider his future options, which include maybe joining the Texas Rangers and possibly hooking up with the unsatisfied wife of a straitlaced officer (Julie London & Gary Merrill). Meanwhile his bosses in Mexico blame him for a lost shipment of firearms.

“The Wonderful Country” (1959) is similar in tone (not plot) to “Vera Cruz” (1954) and “One-Eyed Jacks” (1961), but lacks their compelling stories to make it great.

This is still a worthwhile Western. It’s realistic and weighty with a few meaty dialogues and gems to mine, not to mention it’s nice to see a black character in an old Western (Leroy 'Satchel' Paige). It just needed a more focused script to tie everything together for a more absorbing experience.

The film runs 1 hour, 37 minutes, and was shot entirely in Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora and Durango).

GRADE: B-

CinemaSerf 6/10 Nov 26, 2024

This is really just a film for Robert Mitchum fans. He is "Brady", a hard-nosed drifter who manages to get embroiled in some gun-running on the US/Mexican border, then to break his leg, then to have to fight off the designs of Julie London's "Helen" (who happens to be married to a Yankee captain - Gary Merrill). The film is certainly not dull - aside from some gently smouldering scenes from Miss London, poor old "Brady" is constantly jumping ships with aplomb - trying to stay just one step ahead each time. The dialogue is sometimes quite pithy, and there are plenty of action scenes. Mitchum brings some charisma to the screen, but London should have stuck to singing, her acting never had very much depth to it. The rest of the film is just a little bit too busy - too many characters, too many complications and by the end I wasn't sure if I was really so very bothered.